Jyuubi Jinchuuriki's Immortality: Two Years of Training
by Sonea Storm Shadow
Summary: Naruto has gone off with Jiraya but what is Sonea doing during this time? Certainly not nothing with Kakashi and Tenzo by her side as she teaches them how to handle bijuu and jinchuuriki. OCxKakashi
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys! This is a filler part of the whole story and contributes very little to the main storyline but I do suggest you read it. It's really just full of fluff and steamy bits between Kakashi and my O.C. Sonea just for my enjoyment really because I love this story I have written so far so I'll post it as quickly as I can before we get back to the third and final part to the whole saga.

Another thing is that I'll be changing the POV from Sonea's to third persons from here on out because otherwise it will be short and confusing with what I'm planning for the future of this story. Thanks to everyone reading and following my story or me, I really appreciate it and any comments or reviews or even constructive criticism on my writing.

One more note, the rating is going to be bumped up by chapter three just incae because there are a few steamy bits here and there and I don't want my story removed because of a simple mistake.

Chapter one

Sonea squirmed uncomfortably in the hospital gown she was sitting in and the position she was currently sitting in. Tsunade had asked to give a full physical examination before she left for two years to search for the bijuu. She jumped as something cold probed her in an awkward place and a blush of embarrassment and annoyance appeared across her face as she tried not to reach for Tsunade between her legs and strangle the damn-probing woman.

"Are you finished poking me with cold instruments yet Tsunade?" Sonea asked with annoyance as she closed her eyes and forced her blush away while crossing her arms.

"Almost, just a little bit longer and I'll give you the diagnosis." Tsunade said as Sonea jumped again with another probe and gripped the arms of the chair tighter from annoyance and anger, it was damn cold! All tools were removed and Tsunade stood up, removing her gloves and Sonea sat up with her legs together again thanking whatever god was out there that it was over. "Well, it's clear your no longer are innocent, it comes with the job of being a ninja… But I need to talk to you about your body clock." Tsunade said, moving behind her desk in the little examination room.

"Is something wrong?" Sonea asked carefully as she hopped off of the chair and moved to the chair across from Tsunade by her desk and waited patiently.

"I'm not sure but… Did all of your body clock stop Sonea?" Tsunade asked carefully.

"Yeah, it all stopped, I'm not able to get pregnant because of it now please tell me what's wrong… You're making me worried here." Sonea urged as she sat forwards in her chair, holding her gown together.

"It seems your body clock has started again or going to start soon which means you'll be aging again and all the other things that come with being mortal." Tsunade said with almost a smirk and Sonea slumped back in her chair, looking a bit pale and eyes wide.

"That would explain why I'm getting blood cravings again so badly…" Sonea said, sighing and shaking her head before setting her eyes back on Tsunade.

"I have also noticed the stress your body is under, being in what you call 'demon mode' for so long and I can see the pain in your eyes, there's no denying it Sonea so we'll be giving you some pain medication, working up the levels for your trip when needed and all the other medication you'll need for your regular body cycles." Tsunade said, writing something down and handing it to Shizune who rushed off quickly. "However, I am worried you might experience some other pains and symptoms and I'm worried that I won't be there so I'll have to alert your team to your predicament." Tsunade said calmly as she could and Sonea's eyes widened before she buried her face in her hands.

"Oh god…. " She said out in mortification and Tsunade smirked before smiling gently and cracking her knuckles.

"Don't worry about a thing, I'll handle it… Poor Kakashi and Tenzo, they don't know what they're in for." Tsunade said with a slight chuckle as Sonea looked up and gave her a small smile of thanks as Shizune rushed back in, carrying bottles of medication and passed them to Sonea as Tsunade explained what each one was for. "If anything does happen that you three cannot handle health wise, send one of your circle members to me and we'll meet you at the boarders to sort it out… You may go Sonea, see you in a year or two." Tsunade said with a smile. Sonea stood up with her medication in a paper bag and moved off to the curtains to change back into her uniform before she left for home to finish some last minute packing.

Sonea sat in her empty apartment later that day, tomorrow they would be leaving to Suna first to meet with Gaara and work from there. She drew seals along her legs and abdomen as she sealed away extra futons, food ration bars and a medical kit in case they lost their belongings due to some unforeseen circumstances, one couldn't be to careful when acting as a bandit than a ninja. It was also going to be easier to sneak into the Hidden Villages as bandits if they need to, to find the jinchuuriki.

Sonea knew where The Ichibi, Hachibi and Kyuubi were and she had vague ideas about the Niibi, Sanbi, Gonbi and Yonbi but she had no clue where the Rokubi and Nanabi were going to be and that was where Jiraiya's spy network came in. Sonea chuckled to herself as she stared at the sun setting through one of her windows, if she didn't know Jiraiya, she would think he was just a travelling pervert and that was all he did but he was the villages biggest source of information with one of the largest networks of spies apart from Orochimaru. The same thing went for Kakashi, you wouldn't think he was an extremely strong ninja if it wasn't that he was and the rumours passed around by people.

She was worried about how badly her condition would worsen being away from her circle for so long as the seal stayed more balanced around them but as she knew, she wouldn't be around them all of the time and would have to deal with the pain that would follow, especially on missions. Right now, the seal was only weakened and felt like a small pin prick all over but it was easily ignored but her seal had shown up around the pentagram tattoo of her clans and wouldn't be easily hidden so she chose to just leave it out in the open as no one would be able to actually know it was a seal to hold a bijuu, especially half of the Jyuubi.

No one even knew that the Jyuubi was split into three before it was put into two again but she was starting to wonder if it was really put back into two pieces again. She could easily go against any bijuu and stop them between the one to eight tails when Konoha and Kumo were on good terms and she actually went there to stop the rampaging ox/octopus bijuu. But Kyuubi, Kurama was a completely different story. Sonea didn't and never has stood a chance against him before, she always lost the battle to him, being on almost equal terms… She was beginning to think that something went wrong with the separation like the whole sealing process that fateful day.

She shook her head violently, getting rid of the depressing thoughts before she actually began to cry again… It was the day where all of her mistakes began and nearly six hundred years later they still haunted her even if they were still a bit blurry from the memory erasing seals Taka had placed on her about five years ago before he died and they began to fade and some of her memories returning back to her. The sun had finished setting and now the sky was a dark purple with the stars starting to shine through and the moon was full and white but it was far from how innocent it actually looked… The body of the Jyuubi lived up there, dormant… She vaguely wondered what put her into such a philosophical mood this particular evening, was it because her doom was coming and it was still uncertain whether she would die in the next three to four years or something else?

She shook her head again and stopped all thought process as it was bringing on a headache, something she didn't need for travelling the next day especially to the humid sands of Kaze no Kuni and Sunagakure. Standing up, she moved off to the bathroom and stripped down as she stepped into the cold shower to fight off the impending headache and let the spray of the water dance across her tense shoulders as she slowly relaxed under it and wash away the uncertainty she still held dormant in her mind. She leaned her elbows against the side of the shower and leaned forwards so she could run the spray of water along her sensitive seal as it numbed it for a while making her feel tired all of a sudden.

She got out a little while later and dried her hair with a simple jutsu and brushed it out with a purple towel wrapped around her. She pulled on a tank top and some shorts before climbing into bed and falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

' _Konoha had been destroyed as Sonea protected Kakashi's corpse with what little resolve she had left as she decided it was pay back time, Sonea limped over to Sakura and ordered her to heal her as quickly and scarcely as possible as Naruto began to loose against an Akatsuki member. The Kyuubi chakra flared and she knew that she needed to step in soon or they would loose Naruto to Akatsuki.'_

Sonea woke up with a start as she tried to desperately clear her vision of the blood pouring out of her eyes and the slight searing pain running down her back and into her right thigh from the seal. She was gasping for air as she held her throat and tried to calm down to distinguish the presences in her house when a warm face cloth was wiping at her eyes and she felt the bed dip from someone else sitting next to her.

"Take deep breaths Sonea, it's okay." Kakashi's voice said as she felt a warm hand rubbing circles on her back. She tried to focus on the breathing part while her vision cleared and the face cloth was dabbed across her heated and sweaty skin… She hadn't had a vision for ages and now they were doing more damage than just making her eyes bleed.

"Are you sure she's okay Senpai?" Tenzo's voice asked from next to Kakashi as Sonea blinked away the fuzziness and focused on the two guys.

"I'm fine, it's just a vision." Sonea said, massaging her temples at the headache that failed to leave the night before, at least she now knew why she was getting a headache.

"A vision?" Kakashi asked as he folded the bloody face cloth.

"Yeah, I couldn't say anything years ago when I suddenly had one. It's one of the Jyuubi's ocular powers and it grants me a quick look into the future, helping me along with my life and seal but the blood out of my eyes are just a side effect." Sonea explained as she stretched carefully without hurting her head more.

"Care to share what you saw?" Tenzo asked.

"Konoha was destroyed and Naruto was fighting a member of Akatsuki." Sonea explained simply as she untangled the sheets from her body and headed towards the bathroom for a quick shower and painkillers as she shut the door behind her.

"We should alert Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said through the door as he leaned next to it with Tenzo standing next to him.

"No, I saw it through my eyes so it's only going to happen later on, no need to worry her now. We need to get moving this morning anyway." Sonea said over the sound of the water falling.

"Have any of these 'visions' come true?" Tenzo asked and there was a slight pause to everyone in the house.

"Touch wood. So far, no, they've all been a little further on in the future, the ones I can remember anyway, touch wood." Sonea said, shutting off the water and stepping out of the bathroom in a towel and tapped Tenzo's forehead with a mischievous grin, making both Tenzo and Kakashi blush and look away sheepishly. "Why don't you two wait in the living room, I won't be long." Sonea said as she laid her clothes on the bed, oblivious to the males watching her. She looked up and they nodded quickly and left the room so Sonea could get dressed in piece. She pulled on her regular uniform of her collared top that stuck against her ribs, leaving the back open and stopped above her naval. She pulled on her shorts and looked at her dragon skin and folded it up and put it away safely in her house. She tied her hitai-ate around her waist and put her pouches on and she picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulders before walking to her door where she kept her shoes and pulled on her high heeled shinobi sandals that came up to her knee as she turned to face her travelling companions.

"You two ready to go?" Sonea asked looking at each of them as they nodded. "Great, let's go and I'll explain the details on the way to Suna where we are going to first." Sonea said, opening the door and closing it behind once they all walked out and waited at the top of the tower as she locked up and checked her barriers and making sure they were tight and secure. She nodded as they followed her onto the village walls and down into the dense forest surrounding it as they jumped into the trees and began running for Suna, a three-day trip.

They ran most of the day in silence, focusing on the time ahead and stopped at a little teashop for lunch as they sat and drank in silence and just sat in each other's company. It had been a while since Tenzo had just sat down with his senpai and his idol who gave him Raven as his idol and goal. He idolized her even more once he learned she was the one who saved him when he was a baby and she was an all round nice person, cute too.

Kakashi was thinking about a lot of things. It was good to have his right hand man with him again from his old ANBU days and to just spend time with Sonea and learning from her again, they brought back bittersweet memories but also what Sonea's circle explained to him. Her seal was indeed breaking and as anyone knows, when bijuu break out of their jinchuuriki's, the jinchuuriki dies as a great shock to the body. He was also told that Sonea had a weak body with a powerful bloodline which is the worst situation someone so powerful could find themselves in and how quickly a body can deteriate from not being able to control the power like that boy Kimimaru that Gaara and Lee fought against during the retrieval of Sasuke.

Sonea watched the thoughts pass through Tenzo and Kakashi's eyes. They seemed to have a happy though but then a sense of doom would pass over them and they would seem haunted in a way.

"Hey, can you two brighten up? You're making me depressed here and it's making my coffee taste bad." Sonea finally complained at the two, snapping them out of their thoughts and looking sheepishly at Sonea with apology. "Well since I have your attention right now I might as well explain the details of why I have requested this mission." Sonea began and saw them listening intently. "We are out here to find the bijuu and warn them and their jinchuuriki's about Akatsuki. I have been given the use of Jiraiya's spy network and I will be going to those meetings alone. Once we have finished in Suna, we will be ditching our shinobi uniforms and such for a bandit's look so we can exit and leave the different nations with ease. I know or have a vague idea of where each jinchuuriki is so after Suna we'll be travelling up to Tsuchi next then back into Hi's boarders to get back up into Kumo then by sea to Mizu, avoiding the Hidden Villages if possible. Any questions?" Sonea asked as she downed her cool coffee and ordered another.

"Tsunade-sama said something about training?" Tenzo asked and Sonea thanked the waitress and took a sip of her fresh coffee.

"Yes, you two have been chosen by Tsunade and I to be taught how to deal with jinchuuriki's and bijuu especially since the future doesn't seem to bright right now. I have gone head to head with out of control jinchuuriki and Bijuu with an unhealthy amount of hatred for me and I've won every time except against the Kyuubi, damn fox is too sly for it's own good…" Sonea muttered at the end as she ducked behind her cup and sipped at it broodingly.

"What are the details to this training if you don't mind telling us?" Tenzo asked again. Kakashi was watching Sonea with interest at how natural it seemed that she was talking about bijuu so easily, not showing an ounce of fear or anything but sadness towards them.

"We'll focus on your wood release Tenzo and with Kakashi, we'll be focusing on his chakra and his sharingan but we'll start once we get to Suna and train when we can out in the other nations… So Kakashi, up with the hitai-ate and open that eye of yours, we'll start now with your pre training." Sonea said as she flicked the hitai-ate up on his head and poked his eyelid gently as he opened his sharingan with an annoyed glare at Sonea who grinned mischievously at him. "Tenzo, I want you to work on strengthening your wood release with more chakra and very tightly bound wood, it'll take some concentration and practise but you'll get there then we'll test it against me." Sonea added as she downed her coffee.

"And you, what are you doing on this trip specifically?" Kakashi asked with some annoyance as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. Sonea seemed to get saddened and looked down into the empty cup she was gripping between her hands.

"I'll be meeting with the spies and dealing with my seal so I won't be hindered in battles which is where your training also comes in." Sonea said sombrely, looking into her cup, her voice being lower than before. Kakashi and Tenzo both took it as a sign to drop the topic, Kakashi would talk to her and comfort her later if need be.

Sonea paid for lunch and they were off again into the forest towards Suna, by the half way point of their journey by the next day about midday, they should be entering into Kaze no Kuni meaning dessert sand. They stopped in a small and covered clearing as the sun began going down and started up a fire and lay their futons out as well as placing traps around their camp in case someone decided they would be easy pickings.

Sonea sat on her futon and poked at the fire with a stick with her chin in her palm leaning on the knee of one of her legs as she stared into it absentminded. Kakashi and Tenzo were watching her while eating their food and wondered if she was always this quiet or withdrawn in missions but Kakashi knew better, there was something on her mind, which wasn't surprising.

"I'll take first watch tonight and I'll wake up Tenzo for the second if you two don't mind?" Sonea asked, dumping her stick into the fire and sitting up straight to look at them. They both nodded and Sonea stood up in one fluid movement and jumped into the tree overhead where she made herself comfortable on a branch and watched the stars come out through the branches of trees as Kakashi and Tenzo finished eating and got into their futons to sleep. The night birds were singing and nocturnal animals were already scurrying around for food as Sonea leaned back against the tree trunk and head tilted up slightly, one knee was drawn up to her body while the other hung off the side and her hands clasped together around the drawn up knee.

She could almost feel herself aging day by day again some how, like a factory that had gone quiet for years that all of a sudden starts up again. It explained why her body had been craving blood again after being hurt when previously she would just heal herself and the cravings away with chakra but all of her extra chakra was going towards her body functions and holding the seal in place. People would have so much more chakra if they didn't live and age on the stuff and this was going to hinder her greatly as all she's done over the years was increase her chakra capacity but now it's decreased so she would have to be careful how she uses chakra now so she didn't exhaust herself to badly. She would also be susceptible to sickness now as well as much as Naruto is which isn't high but she hadn't been sick since she was a kid and not treated or looked after well.

Sonea would have to think of her health now so she didn't compromise the seal further. One weakened state could break the seal further than if she was in perfect health. Her reading of different seals and their effects over the years has helped her to learn a lot about her seal and how it worked with her bloodline which has resulted in a bittersweet position, it just showed her how close her doom and the worlds was right now thanks to Akatsuki.

Her eyes shot open at the sound of movement below her and she blinked the sunlight out of her vision. She didn't even remember when she had closed her eyes or gone into her meditative sleep but she had and it was now morning. A blur of silver hopped up next to her and sat on the same branch, concern lacing his dark eye.

"Why didn't you wake us up for the watch?" Kakashi asked and Sonea shrugged and looked through the trees to see the morning light shinning through.

"I guess I wasn't tired." She answered simply.

"You need to start thinking rationally about your body now that your body clock has started up again. You will probably be affected by it now, please just take care of yourself." He stressed and jumped back down to clean up his sleeping bag and belongings before they began their trek to Suna again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Somewhere during that day's trek, Sonea placed her earphones in and began running at a faster pace while she left Kakashi and Tenzo behind to catch up as they entered the sandy and desolate land of Suna that afternoon.

"Should we really just leave her to listen to music senpai?" Tenzo asked, wondering how she could be so reckless and block off a sense that could save her ass in any situation.

"We're in no danger plus she'd probably sense any danger before us… She's even better than my ninken at sensing danger so it's okay plus I think the silence was driving her crazy." Kakashi said with an eye smile at the end as the two partners ran behind Sonea.

"I can still hear you, you know?" She said back to them and they both kept quiet after that and Sonea laughed silently as they continued across the sand. It was as annoying to run across as water with the independent and constantly moving grains of sand so they were using a bit of chakra to keep the pace and Kakashi had to eventually pull his hitai-ate over his eye to conserve the little chakra he had left. He ran up to her back left flank and examined Sonea for a second in awe.

Her creamy pale skin with a slight tinge of a tan to it was glistening with a thin sheen of sweat from the heat. Her black hair was whipping around behind her as she kept the lethal pace up as she kept a perfect angle tilted forwards into her run, not wasting any unnecessary movements as she ran on the balls of her feet and kept her legs bent with long strides, never straightening her legs… For a second Kakashi laughed silently thinking how much it reminded him of a dinosaur running but it was effective as he copied her form and ran like her finding it used less strain on the legs and Tenzo picked it up slightly as well as they kept a perfect and easier pace on her flanks.

Blood red eyes fixed determinedly ahead of her with her eyebrows slightly furrowed and her plush pink lips set in a slight determined pout as her breathing stayed even showing just how easy running and stamina were for her.

"I see why you run like this now, how did you figure that running like this was easier?" Kakashi asked her and her face lightened as she turned her head to look at him and removed on earphone from the ear facing him.

"I have a problem with my right knee that never set right a few years ago and long running tended to make it hurt and throb so I adapted my running style and I came up with this, it's less damaging to your joints in your legs." She explained with a small pull at her lips before putting the earphone back in and setting her face in the determined pout again and Kakashi laughed at how cute it looked as he focused ahead as well, sneaking glances at her now and again.

Tenzo watched with amusement gleaming in his eyes as he watched his senpai act like a teenager around their long time crush and wondered if his idol knew about it. He could definitely see why his senpai had fallen for his ANBU sensei even if it was slightly considered wrong for a sensei to date his or her students but he thought it didn't count in this position anyway which made him chuckle silently and shake his head with amusement. Sonea was every guy's dream, smart, funny, strong, courageous, beautiful and so many other words.

She wasn't like any other kunoichi he had seen or worked with. She didn't outright flirt with her teammates and didn't stay back from a fight by what he heard from Kakashi. Her body shape was also different to a regular kunoichi's she wasn't as broad as Anko or muscular and small like Kurenai, she had muscles that only showed when she used them and the rest of the time, she was shapely and almost soft looking with some shape to her stomach without the muscle look until she used them.

Some may even think her unhealthy the way some of her ribs and her collar bones stuck out but he could see she was just big boned and had very little fat on her but wasn't that muscle like women he's seen, he began to wonder why she was built differently to any other kunoichi when he felt a flicker of killing intent and looked over to his left and saw his senpai glaring daggers at him before setting his attention back ahead… Was Tenzo really staring at her for so long? Sonea felt the killing intent from Kakashi but it was too small so she just put it up to a thought that might have crossed his mind.

"By the pace we're going, if there are no set backs by sand storms, we should arrive at Suna maybe even tonight or tomorrow morning… How are you two holding up with the pace?" Sonea asked as she pulled out her earphones and let them dangle at her neck, trying not to huff her words out as her lungs burnt.

"We're doing fine." Tenzo answered at a nod from Kakashi.

"But we should slow down, you look tired Sonea." Kakashi noted and she cursed under her breath with a huff as she dropped her pace slightly and breathed a little heavily as Kakashi and Tenzo caught up to her and slowed down their paces to keep up with her. "You shouldn't push yourself so much, pace yourself." Kakashi chided gently with concern and Sonea scowled as her eyes flashed with anger before it smoothed out again, keeping her gaze ahead with the same determined pout as they kept the slower and steady pace.

Kakashi wasn't sure if the anger he saw was directed at him for telling her to do something or if it was the fact that her other two teammates were having no problems at the previous pace but he decided to keep his mouth shut until they were in an area where she couldn't just turn around and launch an attack on him for telling her what to do. Kakashi knew she hated to be seen as weak as he didn't like feeling weak either in front of someone else, they had spent his whole life together and they knew each other without having to say anything about how they felt. He knew she could also be extremely stubborn and not back down be it a fight or even about food, if she wanted something, she didn't stop until she got it and right now it seemed as though she wanted to get to Suna because her pace picked up again as she plugged her earphones back in and her breathing wasn't as laboured and they ran in silence.

They reached a small cave and Sonea broke out of her run, breathing heavily as the walked to the entrance and stepped inside where they would be staying for the night. Sonea collapsed against the cool wall and rested her arms over her knees that were pulled up to her chest as she closed her eyes and tilted her head up as she controlled her breathing. She couldn't believe how weak she was being, was she really this weak before having the Jyuubi sealed into her? Perhaps, she'd have to train everyday if she didn't want to feel weaker and train the old way in dance like she use to. She smiled and wondered how she survived before without the Jyuubi and immortality, she really was pathetic as she laughed a little as her breathing had calmed down and she opened her eyes to see Kakashi looking down at her with something unreadable in his eye.

Kakashi watched Sonea stumble through the mouth of the cave and all but collapse against the wall of the cave and breathing heavily, he'd never seen her so worn down just from a simple run as he set the futons out and he watched Sonea regaining her breathing, eyes almost scrunched closed with pain before she laughed quickly and opened her eyes that seemed to have dulled a little.

"Are you sure you're okay Sonea?" Kakashi asked and she nodded her head before relaxing and crossing her legs to lean forwards and she took out her water bottle and took a big gulp.

"I don't like the heat, it makes me feel nauseous and dizzy, don't worry, I can handle it." She lied with a smiled and lay down on her futon and before long, she was asleep.

"Would you mind a longer shift tonight Tenzo?" Kakashi asked him as he sat down on his futon.

"No, she needs the sleep after taking the whole shift last night, I'll take the first shift senpai." Tenzo said, sitting up comfortably and alert and Kakashi nodded and lay in his futon and watched Sonea sleeping before he fell asleep.

The next morning Kakashi watched as Sonea woke up before the sun had risen as she brushed though her hair with her fingers and stood up to stretch before walking outside. He watched as she took her water bottle out and a small bottle of something as she took a gulp of the water and put that and the smaller bottle back. She turned around and faced him.

"I'll be back now." She said with a small smile as she formed her wings and tail and took off upwards before Kakashi could try to stop her… What was in that other bottle he saw her take from her pouch… Was it medicine or something else and it was making Kakashi worry.

She came back as Tenzo and Kakashi were cleaning up and she landed gracefully and continued into the cave and grabbed her bags.

"We have approximately five kilometres left until we get to Sunagakure's walls, we should be able to make that in an hour, so full speed ahead." She said, punching a fist into the air and leading the team out of the cave and they ran at full speed for Suna. Kakashi was glade to see Sonea back to normal as she ran with the same determined posture as the previous day and he smiled fondly, maybe she was just a little tired and the heat got to her. He flinched his head back but relaxed as his hitai-ate was raised by Sonea's black tail as she turned her head back to him and gave him a smile as it disappeared back into her spine and skin as the pentagram tattoo shimmered with ripples and became solid again as she faced forwards again and Kakashi shook his head with amusement as he opened his sharingan eye and looked ahead.

They got to the pass into Sunagakure under an hour and identified themselves to the guards standing there and eyeing them suspiciously but Sonea just smiled sweetly and told them to have a lovely day and walked off smirking while Kakashi and Tenzo were trying not to laugh out loud at the flustered guards. They observed the people rushing past the sandy like buildings, truly giving it the name Hidden Village in the Sand, as they looked for a motel to stay in for the few days they were going to be in Suna preparing for the rest of the trip.

It seemed like there was some sort of festival happening and most of the places were booked out and they had to take a room with two double beds in it meaning someone had to share but Sonea pushed that thought out of her mind so she didn't blush because she knew she would end up sharing with Kakashi… And now she's blushing, they entered the room and put their bags down on the desk in one corner of the room as Kakashi and Tenzo each sat on a bed and Sonea opted for the chair by the desk for the moment while they took a breather from the hot air outside in the air conditioned room.

"I've got the spy to meet this evening so you two can make yourselves comfortable while I go out and meet with him." Sonea said, breaking the silence first.

"Shouldn't you take someone with you?" Kakashi asked as he lay on his stomach after discarding his flak jacket and hitai-ate and propping his chin up on his hands.

"No, I'm lucky enough for Jiraiya to trust me and for the spy's to actually meet with a different person and give information willingly, I'll be fine and I'll return as soon as possible." Sonea said, standing up and digging in her bag for other clothing and walking into the bathroom attached to their room.

She came out wearing bootleg black pants with a black belt that held two three pronged kunai already on each hip and a dark grey jaytee top she had folded up at the bottom just above her belly ring and tying up her hair in a high ponytail with a black short sleeved flak jacket on with a hood attached as she zipped it up a little to cover the weapons as it fell to half way on her thigh and they noticed some other weapons in the lining of the jacket.

"I've never seen you wear anything like that before, it looks good." Kakashi commented as he was sitting up now and Sonea blushed and looked away while Tenzo laughed a little.

"Thanks. I've got someone else to meet before the spy so I'll see you guys later and try not to burn down the hotel room." Sonea said with a wave over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her flak jacket.

She walked around calmly with people eyeing her black outfit as she looked and wondered around like a tourist and scuffed her sandals a little bit along the ground, of coarse by Suna's laws she still had to wear her hitai-ate that was currently being used as an Alice band like Sakura wore hers. She really didn't need to find Gaara right away though she thought she would look around Suna a bit but it hadn't changed since she was there about a year ago to find Seth. She finally found what she was looking for and entered the sweet store to walk out munching on rose Turkish delights as she wondered around again. It wasn't a very hot day for Suna, it was comfortable warm with the wind passing through even if it was a bit sandy and she looked like she was scowling.

The sun was finally going down as she sat at a little café drinking some ice tea and watching where people went and noticed a lot of people were going to clubs and bars for the night, about the only places left open. Sonea got up and paid as they began to close up and headed up to the Kazekage's tower to find Gaara. She walked in and passed the empty reception and headed up the winding staircase to the roof where she saw a familiar figure with a sand gourd on his back, leaning against the railing and watching the moon and stars coming out with his back to her.

"What do I owe the pleasure of your presence Sonea Storm Shadow of Konoha?" Gaara asked calmly without turning around as Sonea came up next to him and leaned against her elbows on the railing as she watched the sky with him.

"Just a personal mission… Has Shukaku been giving you anymore problems?" Sonea asked with concern as she turned her head to look at the rings under his eyes.

"No, he never gave me many problems, they all laid with me but Naruto has shown me the light now and I can now walk a better path…. What is your personal mission if I may ask?" He asked as he turned around and rested his back against the railing, arms crossed and meeting Sonea's eyes steadily.

"You remember when I first met you, what I said before I left?" I asked and he nodded. "I am a jinchuuriki as well but I'm slightly different to you and Naruto." Sonea said carefully, studying his expression.

"Please explain." He asked and Sonea nodded and proceeded to explain to him about the Jyuubi and her breaking seal as his face remained calculating but emotionless.

"That all leads to why I'm here actually." Sonea said as he turned back to watch the moon with Sonea again. "I'm sure you have heard of a group called Akatsuki, they are the reason why my seal is breaking. They are after all of the Bijuu to resurrect the Jyuubi and once that happens, this world is doomed. I want you to be aware of this as they are after you and Naruto as well as all of the other jinchuuriki, including myself. Please be careful." Sonea explained with worry and caution to her voice as she looked at him again.

"Must I alert the council?" He asked in his ever-present neutral tone.

"No, Jiraiya is busy with that while he travels and trains Naruto." I responded and he nodded. "So, does Suna have a new Kazekage yet?" She asked with a grin, breaking the seriousness a little.

"No but I have been doing the paper work however I am much to young to protect a village and country" He said with a bit of doubt in his voice.

"I think you could do it. Sand is one of the most destructive forces I have ever seen and I think that being Kazekage runs through your blood and soon enough you will be acknowledged, I have no doubt in that either." Sonea said with a reassuring smile and she put a hand on his shoulder and he looked at her with a bit more confidence.

"Gaara?" I heard a girl call from behind them. Sonea removed her hand and looked back as a girl with blond hair and a giant fan on her back came walking over to them, "The council requests your presence… Sonea-san…" Temari greeted Sonea and inclined her head and Sonea copied the movement.

"Temari, it's good to see you again." Sonea said with a smile and Temari smiled back. "Well, I have another meeting to get to so I'll see you around and hopefully your council is easier to deal with than Konoha's." Sonea said, rolling her eyes and flipping over the railing with Temari's laughter following after her as she landed on the ground and dusted some dirt off as she headed for a specific bar. She pulled her hood up as she entered a western style bar and sat at an open table without catching too much attention as she ordered a drink and it was delivered to her quickly. She took a sip and confirmed it wasn't poisoned even if she wouldn't be affected by it anyway it was better to be safe than sorry. A male presence snuck up behind her and whispered in her ear.

"You know, male toads croak to attract a mate." The man spoke the codeword that Sonea had to reply to, to confirm it was her.

"Or to protect their territory and mates." She responded and the man led her to a back room. He was wearing loose beige clothing and he had short brown hair and brown eyes and fit into a crowd easily without being spotted as she followed him into a back room and they sat down at a table in the middle of the small booth like room.

"It is nice to meet you Raven." He said, holding out his hand and Sonea took it and shook it firmly.

"You to Shin. Thank you for getting this extra information, it really helps." Sonea said with an appreciative smile.

"Right, down to business. There is a definite jinchuuriki in the Takigakure with blue hair and orange eyes. The rest of the nations except here and Konoha have two jinchuuriki. I cannot give you any specific information on them as they are very protected by their nations. That is all I have for you." He concluded with what could be heard as an annoyed sigh and Sonea stood up with the slip he put on the table with some extra information on it and she pocketed it quickly.

"Thank you. Any message from Jiraiya?" She asked and shook his hand again as he stood up and they made their way back to the bar.

"None, it was good meeting you Raven, good night." He said as they exited the bar and went their separate ways simply and Sonea made her way back to the motel room as it had gotten late.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

Sonea got back to the motel room to find Tenzo was sitting cross-legged on one bed while Kakashi lounged on his side with a knee pointing up and a hand supporting his head. Sonea rolled her eyes and slammed the door where they both just looked up from behind their books to look at her.

"So, where am I supposed to sleep?" Sonea asked, leaning on one leg with her hand on her hip. The two exchanged a glance at each other before turning their gazed that looked board back at Sonea.

"The floor." They chorused together and turned back to their books. Sonea narrowed her gaze and pouted with annoyance as she crossed her arms over her chest and then smirked evilly.

'Well, three can play that game.' She thought as she walked over to Tenzo's bed silkily like a cat and lay down on the edge of the bed and unzipped her jacket and let it fall open. She could feel both pairs of eyes on her now and inwardly smirked while smiled sweetly on the outside as she brought her knees up a little and stretched her arms above her head and 'stretched', arching her back up as high as she could with a slight satisfied groan, next thing she knew, Tenzo literally jumped over her and slammed the bathroom door behind him as you could hear him blowing his nose. Sonea laughed silently but then let it out in fits of uncontrolled laughter, rolling a little on the bed.

"That's so not funny Sonea!" Tenzo called from the bathroom with annoyance. That just made her laugh even more as she took deep breaths to calm herself down and wipe away the amused tears. She heard growling across the room and turned her head to see Kakashi lying on his side with his head propped up and eyes smouldering with anger, possessiveness and lust which made Sonea shiver a little by the raw intensity of those feelings being portrayed through his one dark eye and the other with the sharingan spinning a little with the anger she could see etched into his facial features behind his mask.

"Jealous are we?" Sonea asked smoothly as her eyes narrowed slightly and she smirked with the flash of anger through his dark eye and the sharingan spinning a little faster. "Calm down Kakashi, I was only playing with you two and Tenzo gave me the reaction I was looking for." Sonea added sternly and he ended his growling and angrily turned back to his book with his back facing Sonea now and she shook her head. Tenzo stepped out of the bathroom with tissue still against his nose and glared daggers with his face still with a slight blush to it and Sonea was holding in laughter again.

"Sorry Tenzo but I knew you would give me that reaction, knowing Kakashi, he would have kicked you out of the room and had me all to himself… No hard feelings right?" She asked, her laughter dying down seriously again as she sat on his bed next to him and held out a hand that he shook.

"Right, no hard feelings, just never do that again." He said with annoyance as he leaned back against the wall and proceeded to read his green book and Sonea leaned back against the wall and read over his shoulder.

"So you like to read about Architecture?" Sonea asked and he smiled at her.

"Yes, it is very interesting since the village was built using the wood release, I want to learn to do something like that." He said leaning his book over a little so he could show her some pictures in his book and Sonea was smiling and fascinated a little by the trivia he knew.

"Perhaps you could show me some time Tenzo." Sonea said with a smile. "I'm going to share with Kakashi if he doesn't mind tonight, make sure you don't read too late." She said, scooting off of his bed and standing up.

"Sure." Tenzo said with an almost fond and soft smile before turning to his book as Sonea stood next to Kakashi's bed, his back still to her.

"Move over." She said calmly.

"No, like we said earlier, you can have the floor." He said just as calmly, never looking from his book. She sighed as she pulled on the Jyuubi's chakra with a bruising pain spreading through her seal as she gritted her teeth against it. Her tails surrounded by purple chakra moved and wrapped around Kakashi and he twisted around a little with annoyance as they picked him up and moved him over and she lay down on the bed after discarding her jacket and her tails still holding the struggling Kakashi. Tenzo was watching over his book with amusement how she physically moved him and hid his amused smirk behind his book.

"My tails have a mind of their own so you can either give in and let me sleep here or sleep uncomfortable with my tails around you, your choice." Sonea stated with her eyes closed as she tried to sleep while Kakashi still struggled against them.

"Fine, take them off." Kakashi said with an annoyed sigh after he stopped struggling as she set him down on the bed carefully and released Jyuubi chakra mode with a sigh of relaxation as she calmed down and drifted into sleep, leaving her two teammates reading.

Sonea found herself really comfortable as she woke up the next morning. She decided to lie in a little as she rubbed her head against her warm pillow and snuggled back down to sleep with the steady beating lulling her back to sleep… Her eyes flew open and she rolled out of the bed with a small yelp as she hit the cold hard floor and she stood up quickly and scratched her cheek nervously at the two confused looks directed at her.

"Sorry, I forgot where I was." She said sheepishly. Kakashi just shrugged and got up to use the bathroom first and Sonea sat down on the bed with a relieved sigh. Sonea ignored the smirk Tenzo had on as he dug in his bag and set his things on his bed and neatened it up. Sonea lay back on the bed with the back of her hand on her forehead as she wondered why she jumped up like that when she knew she could probably wake up being really close to Kakashi.

Kakashi stepped into the shower with a smirk. He had been awake a little while before Sonea woke up and found her sleeping on his chest, her hand on his necklace of the pentagram and two wolves and looking extremely relaxed and content as he was. He actually remembered running his fingertips down her bare back where her shirt had ridden up a little and he had never felt more happy in his life… Now he just had to figure out how to keep her in his bed permanently while he took care of his not so little problem he woke up with.

The bathroom door opening and closing signalled to Sonea that Kakashi was finished and Tenzo had occupied the bathroom next as she kept her eyes closed. She opened her eyes dazily as she sat up only to come face to face with Kakashi who was on his knee in front of her and examining her with slight amusement to his eye.

"Are you feeling okay Sonea, you're looking a little flushed? Maybe you have a fever and come down with the flu?" He asked, amused concern lacing his smooth voice as she flushed harder and he held his wrist up to her forehead to check her temperature. She registered what he was doing and smacked his hand away and glared at him.

"I'm perfectly fine Kakashi, I'm just a little warm that's all." She said with a pout, still glaring at him.

"Well then, maybe we should turn the air con up a little later then." He said standing up and digging in his bag like nothing happened while he smirked behind his mask and his back to her. He was wearing his jonin pants and his sleeveless shirt with the mask attached to it. Sonea stood up and retrieved her clothes from her bag next to him and was purposefully ignoring Kakashi next to her as best as she could. She finally heard the bathroom door open as she grabbed her things as she all but ran into the bathroom, slammed the door and locked it and Kakashi couldn't help but laugh… Making her his was going to be easier than he thought.

She came out of the bathroom wearing a white tank top with navy blue flick pants with the top rolled up slightly above her belly ring and she was brushing out her hair and drying it with a jutsu as she dropped her things into her bag and continued when she felt her teammates right behind her and she turned to face them as she dropped her hair that was dry and looked at them.

"So, what do you want to do today?" She asked, wondering what the looks in their eyes meant. Kakashi raised a hand to the left hand side of her neck with her flinching slightly as he pushed the hair back to expose her neck and traced Orochimaru's bite marks with his fingertips. Sonea frowned and looked away guiltily.

"What are those from?" Tenzo asked her, grabbing her chin gently so she faced them again and she looked down.

"About a year ago, Orochimaru tried to give me a curse mark but my body rejected it and left it as those two brown marks where his teeth punctured me and holds it in check… It's nothing to worry about." Sonea said with an icy tone as she held their gazes again, regret showing through her red eyes as they both removed their hands from her and stepped back at the flare of her chakra. "Now that you're both done inspecting me, let's go shopping for bandit clothes since it looks as though you guys don't have any." Sonea said, completely changing her attitude and grabbing their wrists, leading them down to Suna's market area.

So far, they weren't good at dressing themselves as Sonea rejected outfit after outfit as they couldn't let go of their uniform style. They stood there in another failed outfit when Sonea picked up her chin from her palm, eyes widening with her smile as she jumped up and hopped slightly, looking around the store and gestured with her hands for them to wait there as she took off and both Kakashi and Tenzo were laughing at how cute that just was. She came back with clothes she stuffed into their arms and pushed them back into the changing rooms as she shifted nervously but also with excitement to see her magical concoction of the outfits she chose. They both came out at the same time and Sonea smiled and giggled while jumping up and down with a slight squeal and Kakashi and Tenzo thought she lost it when really she was having nostalgic flash backs to when she did this with Storm and his twin Light years ago.

Kakashi was the first to reappear. He was it a tight and sleeveless black shirt with some material ruffling around his neck as a small patch of skin could be seen between the top and his mask. He was wearing a pair of very dark blue, almost black jeans that hugged just the right places and he could still move in them with black shinobi sandals that went over the ankle of the jeans.

Tenzo appeared next in a sandy coloured and loose sleeveless shirt and a brown pair of nicely fitting jean like pants with black sandals coming over the ankle of the pants. Sonea jumped up and down again, looking around before she took off again, looking for certain things before passing them to the guys.

Kakashi received a belt that came down to a slight point on his right hip and was a light red/brown where he could place a few weapons. She gave Tenzo a black scarf that flew out behind him like some of the ANBU wore and gave him a black belt where he could place some weapons. She started to grin at her masterpieces as she ran for one last thing. Sonea found a black and brown arm bands where she passed Kakashi the brown and Tenzo the black as she formed two iron triquatra pendants and bonded them to the material and slid on their arm bands to cover their ANBU tattoos.

"Perfect, you two look so hot, how does it feel?" Sonea asked, leaning back in satisfaction, leaning on one leg and eyeing them as they turned around to look in the mirrors and both had wide eyes.

"You should have become a stylist." Tenzo said as he grinned at her through the mirror.

"Thanks, now go and get some more clothes similar to it and then we can get to my style." Sonea said, chasing them off as she sat back down and smiled to herself. They got more similar clothes and it was now Sonea's turn as she went through the shop to find her 'bandit style'.

Her teammates rejected everything so far and the last time she came out to model, she found Tenzo missing and scowled with confusion. He came back carrying clothes he thrusted into her arms and proceeded to push her back into the change room. The two guys sat quietly as she got dressed and Kakashi wondered what clothes Tenzo had given her. She opened the door and Tenzo was grinning while Kakashi's jaw would have been on the floor as she turned to look in the mirror and gasped.

She was wearing a bikini like top under a black coat that was held together across her chest by a clasp and then black lycra shorts with a belt that could hold some kunai like she normally wore with black shinobi sandals that came up to her knees as she inspected it in the mirror, deciding whether she liked it or not as it slowly grew on her. She tied her hair up into a high pony and smiled, she definitely liked this outfit but she swapped the shorts for some bootleg pants and her outfit was complete with shorter sandals under the pants.

"Interesting, my style with a little bit of bad ass added… I like it, nice work Tenzo." Sonea said as she turned and grinned at Tenzo who was smiling with pride and Kakashi had drool drying into his mask. They picked out a few other colours and styles and they left and bumped into the sand siblings.

"Hey, what's up?" Sonea asked them with a smile while Tenzo and Kakashi stood quietly next to her as she put one hand in her pocket and leaned on one leg with her bag of clothes slung over her shoulder with her hand.

"We would like to ask you to postpone your trip for a while so we can borrow your teammate Tenzo." Gaara asked calmly. Sonea tilted her head.

"What do you need him for?" Sonea asked with curiosity.

"Tsunade-sama said that he uses the wood release and said that he could help us with building our Academy." Temari said this time. Sonea tilted her head the other way and held a finger to her chin… A wood structure in a sand storm village wouldn't last long.

"I have a better idea." Sonea said, biting her thumb and performing the hand seals for summoning and out popped Fall and Sage as they shifted to their human forms. "They have earth and water release and Sage likes architecture and Fall knows some advanced water jutsu's that will strengthen the buildings against the sand. If this doesn't work just get them to call us back. I'll see you guys around." Sonea said, waving and heading off with Kakashi and Tenzo on her trail, looking a little confused.

"Wasn't that Suna's jinchuuriki that tried to destroy Konoha a nearly a year ago?" Tenzo asked.

"It is but Naruto managed to change him some how. He just has this light about him and can break down walls that you build around yourself. Gaara is in a better position because of that so there is no need to worry." Sonea said, waving a hand over her shoulder with a smile as she looked up at the orange sky as the sun was setting and they made it back to their motel room.

They had flipped the beds on their sides as Kakashi sat on one, reading with one knee drawn up to his chest while the other one hung off the side. Tenzo and Sonea were training with some slow taijutsu as they attacked and blocked slowly just so they could get use to their way of fighting so they could work flawlessly as a team if they needed to.

"We can leave Suna tomorrow to start on our journey." Sonea said as she blocked a punch and dodged back a little from Tenzo's attacks. "Sage and Fall will take care of our uniforms and such and take them back to Konoha when they return back." She added as her punch and kicks were blocked.

"Where to first?" Kakashi asked, looking up from his book for a second.

"We're going to pass by Ishagakure and into Tsuchi no Kuni and avoiding Iwagakure at all costs unless we have no choice… I particularly don't want to piss of the Sandaime Tsuchikage again." Sonea said, sweeping Tenzo's feet out from under him and kneeling over him with a kunai to his neck.

"You broke the rules there." Tenzo whined out as Sonea stood up and offered a hand as she helped him up again.

"Sorry, I got board there and lost concentration." Sonea said, dusting him off a little. "Well be walking most of the way so it'll take longer than if we were running but…"

"We can't bring any attention to us, we know Sonea, we're not genins." Kakashi cut her off and complained and she rolled her eyes.

"So there's a jinchuuriki in Tsuchi then?" Tenzo asked as he flipped his bed down and sat down.

"Two to be exact and another just next doors in Takigakure, from there we'll enter Hi no Kuni's boarders again and move through Yu no Kuni and Yuki no Kuni to get to Kaminari no Kuni then by boat down to Mizu no Kuni then back to Hi no Kuni if we don't have to stop by in the smaller nations for a jinchuuriki but from what I've heard, we just have to pass by Taki." Sonea said, wiping her forehead with the back of her arm.

"So when are we going to get to training?" Kakashi asked as he put his book away and jumped off the bed, making it fall into place at the same time.

"You are training at the moment and Tenzo is working on it…" Sonea said looking between them as Tenzo made a small piece of wood and passed it to Sonea to inspect. She sat it down on her hand and put a finger against it, as there was a small spark of lightning and the wood shattered and she frowned. "Needs to be more dense so it doesn't just shatter like this, keep trying… You know as well as I do that it all starts with the basics that of coarse is if your name isn't Uzumaki Naruto." Sonea said as she dropped the pieces of wood into the little bin by the desk. Kakashi just grumbled and stared out the window while he sat on his bed and Tenzo went to working with his wood release and tapping it a few times before he'd try to make another piece of wood. Sonea just yawned and stepped outside for a while, putting her earphones in her ears and decided to pop into the club she found Seth in and try to get at least a little smashed as her seal felt bruised now after using it the night before to move Kakashi over on the bed.

By the time she made it back that night, she was sober again and muttering about stupid bijuu and not letting her get drunk as the room felt tense, finding the two reading like the previous night.

"Alright, what's going on you two?" Sonea asked as she leaned back against the door and crossed her arms, trying to think straight. Tenzo looked up from his book with a serious face and closed his book to sit up.

"Is there something going on between you and senpai?" He asked, plain and seriously. Sonea raised an eyebrow as her eyes darted to Kakashi who hadn't moved before they darted back to Tenzo's again.

"Kakashi, what did you say?" Sonea asked with a slight sigh, she didn't need tension in the group right now. She turned her eyes to him and saw he still hadn't moved and she sighed again and rubbed her temples with her thumb and fingers. "Tenzo, can you go for a walk for about ten minutes while I sort this out?" Sonea asked him and he nodded and put his shoes on. Sonea pushed up from the door and held it open for Tenzo while he stepped out.

"I'll be back in ten minutes." He said before heading off down the corridor. Sonea closed the door then found herself pressed up against it, her hands being held above her head and another body pressed up against her while one hand ran down her side, over her ribs to rest at her hip as she could feel a warm breath against her neck.

"Kakashi?" She whispered out carefully and felt his tongue run up the side of her neck, making her shiver and bit her lip to hold in a sound she trapped in her throat.

"Tenzo likes you, you know…" He breathed into her ear and she was finding it hard to focus right then with his breath against the cooling trail of his saliva on her neck and she shivered again as she felt his chest chuckle against her back and she bit her lip harder to trap another unwanted sound in her throat. The hand that was resting on her hip wrapped around her and slid up under her shirt and traced feather light touched along her stomach and down again to the hem of her low ridding pants and she shivered again as her muscles jumped at the strangely arousing touch and this time she didn't hold back the sound of a whimper that escaped her mouth as she rested her hot forehead against the door. Sure, she could probably overpower him with just a flare of chakra but she couldn't as her body responded needy against the touches he was tracing along her stomach and pressing up against her more as her upped body came to rest against the door as she turned her head and rested her cheek against the door, breathing heavily.

"I told him to back off because you're mine and I won't take no for an answer Sonea." He growled into her ear as he took his hand out from under her shirt and rested it back on her hip, letting her think a little as her breathing calmed a little. He waited a while and tried to be patient but he just couldn't as he took his hand from her hip and brushed her hair out of the way as he ran his nose down the other side of her neck, letting his lips also trail down her neck, finding the jugular and grazing it with his teeth and her body jerked under him in an arch.

"Hah…" She whimpered out with a shake to it and the sound sent a shiver down Kakashi's spine as she arched against him and rested her head against his shoulder.

"We have four minutes until Tenzo gets back and I need an answer Sonea." He said smoothly into her ear as he ran his hand back down her side and rested it back on her hip but left his lips right by her ear. Sonea was so confused that she started shaking and breathing in gasps and uneven breaths and Kakashi noticed and stepped away from her a little but still left his hands one on her hip and the other holding her wrists and let her breath a little so she could answer him.

"Ka… Kakashi… I'm d-dying, you know t-that." She breathed out shakily with a stuttered as she turned her head to look into his eyes, the sharingan swirling lazily as he studied her with open emotion, he really did like her and he was hoping to portray his feelings through his eyes as her bright and slightly wide red eyes studied him with almost sadness behind the lust she was feeling.

"And your point is?" Kakashi asked with a slight scowl. Sonea finally got control of her body back as she twisted her hands out of his grasp and he dropped both hands back to his sides as she turned around and rested her back against the door again.

"Can you really go through loosing me in the end, in two years maybe three, Kakashi, I can't do that to you… I really, really like you a lot but I wouldn't hurt you by giving myself to you when one day you'll have to wake up and find I'm gone… forever. It's going to be easier if we keep our distance." Sonea said with plea to her voice as her eyes well up at the thought and her hands clawed into the door a little. Kakashi shook his head and stepped forwards and ignored the slight flinch she gave as he grabbed her and pulled her into a hug and she clenched the back of his shirt in her fists.

"Its better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all… Sonea, I want all of the time you have left be it a few more minutes or forever, I can't hold my feelings for you back anymore and I won't so just let go and let yourself be loved… Be selfish for once, for me because I really care for you and I want you next to me." He said as he felt something wet hit his shirt and looked down to see she had buried her face against his chest and gasping a little while she cried and he smiled and rested his cheek on her head. "So, is that a yes?" He asked and she stiffened slightly before relaxing and nodding her head against his chest and sniffed a little and Kakashi smiled so wide, he nearly laughed.

He bent down a little and wrapped his arms further down her body and picked her up as she wrapped her knees around his hips and waddled a little over to the bed where he fell on his back and just let her lie there and cry while he combed his fingers through her hair soothingly and hummed a little while she cried on his chest.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

Tenzo walked in and found them with Sonea sleeping on Kakashi's chest as he combed through her hair, looking a bit sad as he noticed Sonea's eyes were slightly red around the edges.

"I guess I loose to you again senpai." Tenzo said softly as he sat on his bed and pulled off his sandals while Kakashi watched him carefully.

"It looks like it… " Kakashi said as his eyes fell back to the sleeping girl on his chest. Tenzo lay back on his bed, he'd never seen his senpai so content before being with and touching someone else.

Hatake Kakashi was guarded, all the time for a lack of better words. Tenzo never pried into his personal life and he probably knew a lot more about his senpai than most people did. He never touched people except when he's sparring or wanted to give contact and even then it was a short amount of attention before he drew back into himself. Tenzo knew all he had on his idol was a crush and that it would pass over quickly but he never stepped down from a challenge by his senpai and that's how the earlier argument started but the tension was calmer now so he decided to get some sleep as he switched off the lights and fell asleep.

Sonea woke up, curled in a ball on her side as she rubbed at her sore eyes and could feel the ball of heat on her back as they lay back to back… How could she give in so easily to something she had ignored for hundreds of years, just his touch was enough to melt through her well constructed barriers she placed around herself so she didn't end up in the position she was now… a relationship with Kakashi. She still believed he had a soul mate out there somewhere and now she's denied that person happiness.

"Stop thinking so much, you'll give yourself a headache and wrinkles." She felt Kakashi rumble next to her through their backs.

"How did you know I was wake?" She asked him as she turned over to look at him also turning to face her.

"I just know." He said with an eye smile as he put a finger to her nose, making her go squint a little before she jerked her head away with an annoyed pout and Kakashi just smiled under his mask.

"You tricked me." Sonea said.

"I told you that one day I would have you." He said with that arrogant shrug of his before he sat up and got out of the bed to get ready for the day and pack his bag. Sonea just groaned and threw the pillow over her head and heard both Kakashi and Tenzo laugh.

An hour later, Kakashi was sitting on the edge of the bed growling in his throat while Tenzo sat on his bed and was holding in his laughter poorly. Sonea was face to face with him, gripping his chin with one hand while she dabbed some base over the scar running over his left and now grey eye after putting a contact in before.

"Stop growling, you know why we have to do it, you're already to recognisable with the mask and your silver hair so deal with the little bit of make-up will you." Sonea said sternly as she concentrated on covering the scar. She stepped back and examined her handy work and put the make-up away in her bag and tied her hair up into a high ponytail as they were already dressed in their bandit like outfits. "I guess we better get going now." She said, throwing her bag onto her back as Kakashi and Tenzo stood up and did the same thing as they locked up the room, dropped the keys at reception and left Suna, heading north for Ishagakure.

It was a routine walk there, Kakashi and Tenzo would read while Sonea had her earphones in and danced her way there with little hops and steps while she walked, giving Kakashi and Tenzo some entertainment. Their carefree attitude didn't last as they exited Kaze no Kuni's boarders where the next country over was crawling with ninja who looked on high alert about something and it set them back two extra days as they ended up having to run through the country, not wanting to stay any longer in case they got caught up in whatever the nin were so anal about.

"That took longer than I hoped." Sonea said, sitting on her bed at an inn in Tsuchi no Kuni's boarders. The room was bricked and cool compared to Suna and it had the same style as the motel in Suna with two double beds in the room. They decided, well actually Kakashi persuaded her that it was easier and cheaper to just share one room between them and with a little caress from him and a lot of stuttering and blushing from Sonea, she agreed. She untied her hair, putting the hair band around her wrist as she shook out her hair and scratched through her scalp and couldn't wait to have a proper shower since they dare stop in a town in the previous country.

"I'm surprised for a small country they had so many ninja around." Kakashi mused as he sat on the floor and leaned against the bed where Sonea was sitting.

"Yeah, something crawled up their ass' and died." Sonea muttered and Kakashi chuckled, Tenzo was busy in the bathroom at that moment. "Anyway, I've got a spy to find tonight so you and Tenzo should be okay here." Sonea said lying back and putting her head next to Kakashi's as he turned a little to face her.

"How do you know where to find them?" Kakashi asked with curiosity and Sonea smiled and tapped at her temple with one finger.

"I've got Jiraiya followed with Naruto since the last incident." Sonea said and Kakashi just eye smiled and shook his head.

"You can use the bathroom next." He said as he played with an oily lock of her hair. "I don't know how you can deal with long hair being a ninja and not get it caught or cut." Kakashi wondered out loud before Sonea snatched her hair away with an annoyed pout.

"I'm just an awesome ninja plus it never grew before since I became immortal but the girls fixed it up since the last time I did cut it I just grabbed it and cut it." Sonea said, now playing with the strand she snatched away.

"So your whole body just froze in time?" Kakashi asked as Sonea propped her head up on her hand.

"Yeah, everything just stopped, it was odd really." She said with a shrug and sat up and passed Tenzo who just came out of the bathroom.

Sonea found the run down brothel quite easily as she sat at the bar and read a book and sipped on her drink. Her coat was closed up down to her waist, covering her up and all the weapons she was carrying while she waited for someone to whisper the codeword to her and she had to reply.

A man wearing a brown trench coat sat down next to her and put his hat down on the bar between them and nodded a greeting to Sonea who returned it. He had stubble along his sharp and scarred jaw line and had shoulder length black hair wearing band around it to push it out of his face and he had chilling blue eyes with hard shaped eyebrows.

"Male toads croak to attract a mate." The man spoke the codeword and Sonea smirked as she took a drink and checked around with her eyes quickly and placed it back on the bar.

"Or to protect their territory and mates." She responded with a smile as they looked at each other, his scars on his face reminded her of Morino Ibiki back in Konoha which seemed to relax her slightly.

"It's good to meet you Raven, my name's Isamu… You're a brave girl to travel into Iwa's territory." He said, looking around as he sipped his beer he just ordered.

"Yeah well your employer wouldn't have given me your contact if he thought I couldn't handle myself… You know what I'm looking for Isamu." Sonea said, doing the same thing, acting like they didn't know each other as she sipped her drink.

"Very well then, straight to the point. Iwa's lost contact of one of their jinchuuriki but reports had been flying around by their ANBU about spotting him, he's a slippery one and last report said he was in the mountains somewhere. As for the other one, he's kept tight under Iwa and watched constantly but has as much freedom as the other one, it is unknown where he is at the moment." He said coolly as he finished his beer and paid as he left, putting his hat back on and ducked out of the bar and Sonea just watched with confusion before shrugging, downing her drink and leaving back to the hotel room.

She was nearly there when she stumbled and got dizzy, seeing double… Whatever was in her drink had been a high dosage of something to effect her this much as she stumbled into the shadows and closed her eyes for a second using her damage detection jutsu to find the poison and what it was. She was feeling hot as she all but ripped her coat open to the cool night air as she found the drug, it was a date rape drug meaning she was being followed. She was too careless of how she acted, Tsuchi no Kuni was known as a place for it's drugs and Sonea forgot the simple rule, do not take your eyes off of your drink no matter what.

She sunk into the shadows as she shakily made a shadow clone that stumbled out and in the opposite direction she was going as she breathed deeply in the shadows and tried to focus enough to make it back to the hotel room. Once she couldn't sense anyone nearby, she moved along the shadows of the walls for a few blocks then stepped out as she focused putting one step in front of the other as her body flushed and her breathing got heavier. Making it up the stairs of the hotel, she reached her room and stepped inside to fumble and collapse against the closed door.

She opened her eyes to see Kakashi and Tenzo fumbling over her and Kakashi's worried eyes looking her over, checking her pulse and asking questions she couldn't concentrate on to answer.

"Date rape drug… High dosage… shadow clone… Followed." She said out in pants as her eyes kept drifting shut now and again. Her whole body felt numb and she couldn't concentrate on anything until something was stuck down her throat causing her to gag and a hand pressed just under her breast bone, forcing her to throw up anything in her stomach with a grimace at the foul tasting alcohol she was throwing up.

Her senses came back to her slowly starting with her hearing then her touch and lastly her sense of smell with her vision as her body was able to handle the drug left in her system and get her back to normal but she was still feeling hot.

"I couldn't find anyone in the area that looked suspicious senpai." Tenzo's voice said that sounded like it was coming from the bathroom doorway.

"Her shadow clone must have led them away, good thinking on her part but why didn't her body just filter it through like everything else?" Kakashi wondered next to her as she was lying on her arm draped around the toilet bowl as she steadied her breathing to sit up slightly with Kakashi's hands on her back supporting her slightly.

"Well I'm sorry I'm not so awesome that I can filter anything through, like I think I said earlier, it was an extremely high dosage and my body has to flush it through my system at least once before it can filter it out." Sonea said with a rough voice full of poisonous sarcasm as she fell off her knees to sit on her butt. "Can you get my bag for me Tenzo?" Sonea asked, looking up at him as he nodded and moved off.

"Are you okay now?" Kakashi asked next to her as she turned her head slowly to look at him with a dead panned face.

"Yeah, just fucking peachy Kakashi." She said out in a dead voice and Kakashi seemed greatly amused by it as Tenzo returned with her bag and put it down next to her as she dug through it quickly and pulling out a tin. She opened it and pulled out one of the many syringes filled with clear liquid with a blue tinge to it as she grabbed the cap with her teeth and ripped it off to stab the syringe into her leg and squeeze the contents into her blood stream. She pulled it out and closed the cap back on and placed it back into the tin before putting it back into her bag and sighing as the contents began to work on her body.

"What was that?" Kakashi asked, helping Sonea to stand up and walk shakily back to the bed and sitting her down on the bed.

"A drug to cancel out the aphrodisiac… Iwa's famous for them in brothels." Sonea said tiredly with a sigh as Kakashi began pulling off her shoes and coat and laid her under the covers of the bed. Tenzo came over with water and Kakashi helped her to sit up and sip it slowly as it calmed the burning in her throat down from the retching. "And no I wasn't going to tell you before hand because you'd take advantage of my situation." Sonea said with a small smile as she closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep.

"Wow, so much faith in me Sonea." Kakashi said sarcastically as he kissed her forehead and went to put the water back as they both got ready for bed. They all left the town the next day and decided to start in the mountains where the last jinchuuriki was found and they came up to a nostalgic mountain Sonea remembered fondly as it still had the storm clouds hovering around the top. They had been travelling for three weeks, avoiding towns now and they were getting a bit board of trying to find the damn jinchuuriki's.

"We need to go up there." Sonea said, looking up at the mountain with her hand over her eyebrows to block out the sunlight to her eyes.

"Why, do you sense something?" Tenzo asked as he looked at the mountain with her.

"No but I remember something and I promised Sage and Fall I'd stop by if I had the chance, only problem is I'll have to fly you up there one by one. Any objections?" Sonea asked as she twirled around to look at her teammates.

"Sure, I'm game." Kakashi said with an arrogant shrug like he use to do as a kid and Tenzo swallowed.

"Oh come on Tenzo, it'll be fun." Sonea said.

"What do you mean by fly?" He asked and Sonea smirked as she grabbed his belt and in record time, formed her wings and tail and was already half way up the mountain before Tenzo started to scream and Sonea was laughing manically. She stopped by the wall of water that was still there and pumped her chakra into it as she shifted Tenzo into one hand as she held the other up against the water. She separated the water and flew on through and landed on the misty and cloudy rocky surface, still looking the same as the last time she was up here.

"Wait here, I have to fetch Kakashi." Sonea said, before stepping off the side and free falling through the water and into the air as she twisted slowly so her head pointed at the floor, wings flat back behind her for fun as she descended at a rapid pace. With a pulling up motion and one rush of chakra infused wind, she flapped her wings and automatically hovered by the ground before stepping onto the ground calmly and grinning at Kakashi who had an eyebrow raised at her.

"You just love giving me heart attacks don't you?" He asked as he stood in front of her and she smiled and shrugged like Kakashi did which made him laugh before she grabbed his belt and flew up calmly with Kakashi holding onto her easily. The water parted, as she never slowed down before landing next to Tenzo who looked uneasy.

"Why so nervous Tenzo?" Sonea asked as she began walking in a familiar direction with Kakashi and Tenzo walking next to her flanks and looking around calmly.

"This place, I never knew it was up here and it gives me an uneasy feeling." He said.

"Its suppose to… I don't know if you two learned about this but did you learn about political assassins during the warring states period?" She asked them and a thought seemed to cross their faces and Sonea took that as a sign that they remembered what they were taught. "The Ansatsusha (Assassin of a political figure) family use to live up here before they suddenly disappeared one day." Sonea said as they got up to a white house, still in perfect condition but since they hadn't been attacked, Sonea knew that it was a house stuck in time like its two previous owners.

"Yeah, I remember that name… Do you know what happened to them to make them suddenly drop off the grid like that?" Tenzo asked with interest as he studied the little house in front of them.

"I do…" Sonea said with a smirk as she opened the house and walked down a corridor with them following.

"So… What happened to them?" Kakashi finally asked as they were nearing the end of the corridor.

"They're a part of my circle, welcome to the Ansatsusha family mansion." Sonea said to the two guys whose jaws were on the ground as she opened the door and it looked like she remembered as the lights flicked on… The house was almost like a living being of it's own some how by it's agelessness. Everything was white with a hint of gold or silver here or there and so lavish and bright and huge as it travelled underground, like a true royal mansion that was in everyone's dreams.

"No fucken WAY!" Tenzo shouted out with a laugh as he all but ran into the entrance hall and felt at the different textures everywhere and Kakashi stood next to Sonea, hands in pockets and looking around in awe.

"So Fall and Sage are the last two heirs to the famous family?" Kakashi asked and Sonea smiled with nostalgia.

"You mean Ansatsusha Kira and Killua… Yeah they were and still are… We can stay up here for a few days since we need a good shower and to relax a little… It's a mansion worth fortunes to the legendary family that were believed to have never existed, as their killings were so clean and untraceable. Now you see why they were in charge of ANBU in the beginning." Sonea said as she collapsed on the white couch with a content sigh, Tenzo's excited voice still floating through the halls.

"Absolutely unbelievable." Kakashi said as he sat next to Sonea and she leaned her head on his shoulder. They settled into the mansion even though it had no food in it but it was soon fixed as Sonea thought of something clever and summoned Fall and Sage and they brought along food as they cried with memories as they strolled down the halls together and were going to stay with them for a while before they had to get back to Konoha to get back to building Suna's academy.

Fall and Sage took their own rooms while the three teammates took rooms next to each other on the other side of the underground mansion. Sonea relaxed into the huge bath she filled with bubbles and settled into the hot water with a sigh. Her seal had been hurting painfully since the drugging almost a month ago but it was one time of weakness that the Jyuubi took advantage of. She wasn't just taking two painkillers every morning anymore, it was now two every four hours but like the bottle said, take two tablets when experiencing pain but she could feel that the pain wasn't wearing off fully anymore.

It was a sign of how weak the seal had gotten and how close to breaking it really was but it wasn't likely to break in one go… No, this seal was designed to hold it down until the last few bits of the seal broke and it inflicted pain at the same time and everyone knows that pain goes away when you deal with it with medication or in Sonea's case with doing something about it. She was trying but the weakening hampered her strength at the same time and there was no way she'd be able to take out ten S-ranked criminals all in one go… Then there was the issue with Itachi and not being able to attack him straight out, maybe she still saw him as that little boy she use to hang out with who spoke about peace and wanting to change the shinobi world for better but now that he was doing this, he knew intentionally that this wasn't the right way to peace.

She pushed the headache causing thought out of her head as she stood up from the bathtub and got dressed to sleep for the night and walked into her room and looked around the simple yet comfortable room and smiled as she remembered how she had met all of her circle members and how she had gotten to where she was with many mistakes along the way she swore to fix one day as she got under the large duvet and went to sleep comfortably for the first time in a while.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I am feeling extremely generous today... Plus i'm annoyed at the way the manga is going and why there is no new episode out this week and why there's not going to be a new chapter out next week! Okay now that my rant is over, here's the next chapter and i hope you enjoy. R&R :)**

Chapter five

They all said a sad good bye to it and promised to return to the mansion one day as Sonea took them back to the ground and they began their search for the jinchuuriki's again, stopping at another town to meet with a spy for more information but it hadn't changed as they had been searching Tsuchi for nearly two months now.

"God, how hard can it be to find two people in a country no bigger than our own?" Kakashi whined as they trekked through another cliff like area and Sonea couldn't help but agree but at least they were coming up to a forest like area they could rest in and regroup again.

"I have to agree, we have to go through Tsuchi again but this time with a fine tooth comb and not miss anything out, maybe I'll even use my circle to search as they can travel across land in a heartbeat." Sonea wondered as they entered the cool and really dense forest between two bases of two mountains.

They set up camp near a waterfall in the forest and Sonea knew they were dangerously close to the boarders by the foliage around as they were loosing track of time and where they were as they searched the forest. They had spent some of their time training as well as Tenzo's wood release was getting denser and stronger, infused with more chakra and Kakashi could keep his sharingan open for a whole day and only ended up with a little chakra left but it was an improvement and it was strange seeing Kakashi with two eyes again both the same colour as she felt like he was fourteen again which made her smile with nostalgia every time she looked at him.

They had been away from Konoha for nearly three months already and she's only seen Gaara which wasn't exactly hiding and if she spread the time they had evenly, they were going well but there could be unforeseen circumstances that could set them back quite a lot of time and they didn't need that plus she wanted to finish with the minimum amount of time and strengthen herself before Naruto got back with his weakened seal. Pain shot up her right arm and the next thing she knew, she was squeezing her hand in her left hand and between her legs as she jumped around.

"You mother fuck, ah, shit that hurt." Sonea said through gritted teeth with many other swear words as she shook her bleeding hand out and glared at the dented tree… When had she started punching it and how long, since it was already night? Hands cupped her bleeding right hand and ran circles on her wrist and the back of her hand with his thumbs as she looked up into Kakashi's worried dark eyes. The pain began to ease as he massaged her palm with his fingers around her hand.

"Better?" He asked with an eye smile and Sonea blushed and looked away, why was she emotionally vunerable to Kakashi?

"Yeah, thanks… Why didn't you two stop me earlier?" She asked, meeting his eye again and she was sure she was blushing.

"And get between a pissed off girl, red eyes glowing and all as you muttered angry and unintelligent things at the tree? We value our lives more than you think we do." He said with a slight chuckle to his voice as he had his gaze on her hand while he continued to massage it and Sonea smiled.

"Yeah, I probably would have turned on anyone who tried to stop me." Sonea said with a sheepish grin as she scratched at her cheek with one finger using the uninjured hand. She flinched as the bones snapped back in place as her healing had begun and Kakashi also flinched at the sound. Kakashi looked up into her eyes and the slight pain swirling within the red depths of her eyes as she focused on her hand with her brows slightly furrowed.

"Is it still painful?" Kakashi asked and her brows furrowed further.

"Every healing process is just all of the pain comes at once as it heals, it'll be over soon, just a few other fractures and bruises to fix." She said as the cuts began to heal on her hand and the swelling started to go down, leaving dried blood on her hand with Kakashi still massaging her palm. She took her hand back and her eyes glowed as she brought her knuckles up to her lips and licked the old blood away predatorily. She took a small cloth from her coat and wiped over her knuckles as she eyes faded normally and she put the cloth away and smiled at Kakashi and held up her hand with a smile.

"See, all fixed." She said, pointing to her knuckles with the other hand and Kakashi was to entranced by how dangerous she looked just now and she opened her eyes to see him staring as she leaned forwards with a smirk and stopped by his ear. "You're staring." She said softly and he flinched and jumped back only to end up falling over a rock but she caught his hand and stopped his fall and he looked up with an eye smile after realising she stopped him.

"Yeah, thanks." He said with a small sheepish laugh and she pulled him up again and headed back to camp with Kakashi close behind, wanting her hand back in his again and he sighed.

A week or so later, Sonea sat in meditation in the moonlight on the middle of a lake, listening to music while Kakashi and Tenzo sat at the fire just on the shore and watched her as they ate, her food could disappear faster than Kakashi's ever could. Her chakra flared up and the water began to whip around her and lightning spark around her as the wind picked up as her brows furrowed and her teammates watched cautiously as it flared high as she disappeared from sight with the water and the large bolts of lightning lingered longer than flashes before it died down again and she sighed with a smile on her face. She stood up and walked over to the camp and sat down to dry off a little from the water.

"And the purpose of that was?" Tenzo asked curiously.

"You know that feeling after not training for a while and then training as hard as you can afterwards and feeling happier and just in general feeling good?" Sonea asked with her eyes set on the fire, a little tired but more relaxed.

"Yeah?" Tenzo asked as he set his can of food down on his lap and loosely held his chopsticks.

"Because of the amount of power I carry and hold, I have to clean through my chakra system now and again when I'm not expending chakra on missions and such and normally I'd train until I was nearly passing out but because we're out in the open and in another country, just a little is good enough to get the old coil running again and with it's large capacity." Sonea said as she raised her arms and stretched with a cat like expression and grace as she arched her back forwards then backwards. Her eyes flashed open and with a small flick of chakra, she put the fire out with water and pulled them to duck in the bushes with her as they looked confused.

"What's going on?" Kakashi asked as he looked around with his eyes and listened through the bushes.

"Shit… The bijuu must have felt my chakra… I never thought they'd be close enough to feel such a small amount and now we're screwed… I never thought we'd come up against two jinchuuriki at the same time." Sonea whispered as two men came into view through the moonlight, one really tall and the other one really short.

The shorter of the two has red hair, a moustache and a beard with a three-pointed headgear with the Iwa hitai-ate on it. He was wearing fish net armour with a light red shirt and pants with a brown sash in the middle, holding his armour as he resembled the Yonbi.

The taller man had red armour on with a furnace on his back with a black gi with ripped off sleeves and also had the Iwa hitai-ate on. She bit her lip in sheer panic as their chakra flared dangerously and mixed heavily with the bijuu's they held in their bodies and for the first time in a long time, Sonea was scared. She banged her fist on the ground lightly, thinking that only one plan would work as she forced her seal and pulled on the Jyuubi's chakra and stepped out of the bushes with an aura of danger as she transformed and the stage one jinchuuriki turned to glare at her with massive killing intent as the snarled and Kakashi and Tenzo stood defensively behind her, preparing to fight.

"I'll leave the shorter one to you two. Be careful, if I predicted this correctly he has the lava release of fire and earth. I'll take the bigger one and try to keep it a long-range fight or you'll get severe chakra poisoning. Go!" Sonea ordered as the two jinchuuriki charged for them, Kakashi and Tenzo threw shuriken at the shorter man to catch his attention and move their battle away.

Sonea caught the attention of the big guy and moved in the opposite direction when he moved at an incredible speed and hit her in the middle of her back with a kick, which winded her with incredible power behind it as she gasped for air brokenly.

Sonea had misjudged the opponent as she struggled to gain some control in the flight as her heels dug into the ground and she used one hand to steady her still skidding heels. With just enough time to block a massive kick to her head, her body absorb the impact to land a blow to his ribs with her elbow and he hit the ground as she stopped her skidding a few metres away. Sonea began running for him and growling with warning as her chain tails were already attacking the dodging body. Putting as much chakra as she could into my feet, she leaped off the ground and gave him a chakra-induced kick to the chest, which sent him flying backwards.

Sonea winced with the pain her seal was giving her as chased after the flying body with incredible speed as they began a taijutsu fight as soon as he landed. For a large man he was flexible and extremely strong with the steam from the furnace on his back. As the attacks got more frequent and more steam was released Sonea began to get burned by his armour every time she attacked and defended.

"Storm release; Storm cutting senbons." She shouted and released a jutsu of water senbons enhanced by lightning and caused the water to cut where it splashed to using the wind release. It began to penetrate his armour as the steam was released and she moved in to attack and incapacitate him.

Sonea didn't see the other lava glowing body heading for her and hit her with a lava punch to her abdomen and sent flying through trees. As she flew, she quickly cooled down some of her skin with her storm release and grabbed onto a tree to swing around and use the momentum to fly back at him. Guy would have been proud as Sonea used a kick similar to dynamic entry on his face, unfortunately he saw this coming and grabbed her ankle and used the momentum to throw her in the continued direction.

They were both up this time and Kakashi and Tenzo were both hurt, a crazy idea hit Sonea's mind but it was the best they had against the pissed off jinchuuriki.

"Do you both trust me?" Sonea asked quickly as she could see the jinchuuriki getting agitated again as her serious rippling sharingan eyes met black and dark grey.

"Yes." They both chorused together as the jinchuuriki launched into their next attack.

"Sorry for this but I'll catch you." Sonea said, running at them as she grabbed for their waistbands of their pants and threw them up with as much force as she could muster up right then with a slight wince but she needed to stay concentrated as the jinchuuriki came up fast. Sonea moved quickly towards the jinchuuriki and opened her triquatra locket and released the Jyuubi chakra and drew in as much natural energy as she could at the same time to keep it chained down securely and not risk her seal. The mixture of black and white flames confused them, which gave her enough time to erect the chakra chains barrier around each of the jinchuuriki. She kept feeding natural chakra to them and it forced the bijuu in their body's back. Sonea breathed a small and quick sigh of relief and flew up to catch the two she had just thrown upwards.

They were clinging to each other and they opened up Sonea me to catch them as their arms wrapped around her shoulders tightly with their decent and their legs around her waist and they weren't slowing down. With one last burst of chakra Sonea formed the iron feathers on her wings, which made them stronger and pushed chakra into one last powerful flap. It slowed them down enough to hit the ground without any serious injury. Sonea laughed a little as they both began to unwrap themselves unwillingly off of her waist and shoulders.

"Are you okay?" She asked the paler than normal guys who were standing up shakily as she lay there on her back on the ground.

"Yeah, just peachy." Tenzo muttered.

"Just never do that to us again." Kakashi said with a small shake to his voice as he helped her up. "What did you do with them?" He asked while Sonea dusted myself off and closed her locket.

"Chakra chain barrier made of natural chakra, it also helped to push their bijuu back so they will be okay now." Sonea, leading them back to the jinchuuriki through the white chained barrier and coming face to face with the two calmer men now.

"We did not hurt you, did we?" The taller jinchuuriki asked.

"No, it's okay, I'm use to it. May I ask why you attacked us?" Sonea asked him as he seemed the more friendly of the two with quite a distance between them.

"I do not know, one second I sensed chakra and the next second I was here, I think I temporary lost it." He said with slight shame to his voice as his already sad looking eyes looked down.

"It was your bijuu, they have some anger towards me and I must apologise but I needed to find you two. I have come to warn you of an organisation name Akatsuki, they are after your bijuu to resurrect the Jyuubi and the world will end if they succeed. They are S-ranked criminals who travel in two's with black coats with red clouds on them. They will kill you for your bijuu if they capture you." Sonea explained carefully as she watched the two cautiously and kept an eye on the chain barrier for any weakness, she didn't want a repeat of the Kyuubi incident.

"They won't stand a chance against us." The other jinchuuriki spoke up with his arms crossed.

"No one knows what this organisation can do so don't underestimate them and there are only two members that we know about; Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. Their names alone must be a warning to you." Sonea said with annoyance that her warning was being taken lightly as she leaned on one leg and crossed her arms as her ten tails whipped around with annoyance and her wings twitched.

"Who is to say that you aren't working for them?" The shorter one asked defensively.

"Because I have what they want to, I know you can tell by your bijuu's reaction to me. Good luck, the barrier will fall once I am sufficiently far enough away." Sonea said with anger and annoyance as she turned around and began walking out of the barrier with Kakashi and Tenzo following behind a little back from her and her ominous and malicious chakra but also because of their injuries. Sonea's nose caught the slight heavy scent of blood behind her of two scents as she slowed down her pace and wrapped her tails around them to support her hurt teammates.

"I take back my moaning about not being able to find them." Kakashi said with some amused strain to his voice and Sonea smiled and shook her head.

"And that's why I told you to use long ranged attacks." Sonea said sweetly noticing the injuries they both sustained from a more close to medium ranged fight with him.

"You really don't know senpai then." Tenzo muttered, also with some strain and pain leaking into his voice.

"No, I do know him… Surely the great Copy Ninja Sharingan no Hatake Kakashi has some long ranged attacks in his arsenal of one thousand jutsus." Sonea mocked with a smirk and a carefree shrug and Kakashi pulled on one of her tails making her squeak a little and blushed when Tenzo and Kakashi laughed silently with pain against her tails as they moved far away from the jinchuuriki.

The sun was rising when they found a secluded cave like spot near a river somewhere and set up a camp with a bit of difficulty but it was accomplished as Sonea helped Kakashi and Tenzo to sit down on their futons. She knelt down in between their futons and dug in her bag and pulled out a first aid kit and opened it. Sonea pulled off her surprisingly undamaged coat and picked up some cotton wool and antiseptic fluid and soaked the cotton wool in it for a while as she pulled out some extra bandaging from her bag.

"I'll heal your wounds now so be patient." Sonea said when she saw Kakashi open his mouth to say something. She took the soaked cotton wool and took a deep breath before hastily putting it against her burnt ribs and she squealed low in her throat as her face scrunched up in pain and she gritted her teeth with her other fist punching the ground to take her mind off the sting on her ribs. She had chakra poisoning from the lava punch meaning there was no way of healing it no matter how much her body fought against the foreign chakra invading the huge burn and she'd pass out trying to coax the chakra out of the burn and she couldn't leave Kakashi and Tenzo to perform a surgery like it without being able to sense chakra like she could. She sighed as she pulled the bloodied cotton wool away and it felt like ice had been placed over the burn as she put some gauze over it and bandaged herself up, her other wounds could wait until she was finished with Kakashi and Tenzo.

"Alright, whose more injured at the moment?" Sonea asked, turning to the two guys watching her carefully.

"Tenzo"

"Senpai."

They said each other's name at the same time and Sonea sighed before probing them with one of her tails quickly and Kakashi jumped high while Tenzo barely reacted.

"Okay, Kakashi first… Tenzo, can you go fetch me some water from the river nearby?" Sonea asked as she passed him an empty water bag as he took it and stood up, heading in the direction of the sound of water while Sonea scooted on her knees up to sit in front of Kakashi and began digging in the medical kit and pulled out a scalpel and Kakashi flinched back before freezing in pain with his hands held up in front of him defensively.

"I don't need an operation." Kakashi muttered tiredly with pain still lacing his voice. Sonea smiled gently and pulled one of his arms towards her and examined the burn there that was also poisoned by the bijuu's chakra. She dug in her first aid kit and pulled out a bottle of food pills and a bottle of blood replacement pills and passed Kakashi one of each into his hand.

"You're not getting an operation but you'll be bleeding a bit if you want to be healed." Sonea said, cutting a little cut under the burn and putting the scalpel down as Tenzo returned with the water and she set the bag between her knees as she manipulated the water to hover over the cut as she placed her hand gently over the burn, coaxing the poisoning red chakra to move out and through the cut into the water as the water hissed against the cut and blood moved into the slightly glowing red water. Tenzo sat down on his futon and watched with interest as Sonea worked.

One of her tails dug a biggish hole into the ground as Sonea moved the water away and dropped it into the hole, corroding the soil a little with a hiss as it came into contact. Sonea took some of the cotton wool soaked in antiseptic fluid and put it against his burn and he flinched and stayed tense as he hissed through the pain. Kakashi threw the pills into his mouth under his mask and felt a bit better afterwards as the cotton wool had been removed and Sonea with the little bit of medical jutsu she knew was now healing the skin. She lay Kakashi down on his futon and cut his shirt off of him since it was ruined anyway and repeated the process of coaxing the chakra out and healing him up again and he fell asleep sometime during the process. She pulled the blanket up over his sleeping form before scooting over to Tenzo's bed and smiling.

"So, how are your injuries?" She asked and he held out his burned hands and she began the process with him.

"I kept at long ranged attacks but his lava release cut through my wood quickly, giving me these burns… My wood release is still weak, do you have any suggestions Sonea?" He asked, looking up at her like he failed but Sonea just smiled and softened her eyes as she watched the chakra flowing into the water with his blood.

"I don't." She said and his face fell before staring at the floor. "But I know you'll find your way Tenzo since it's such a rare element, I've had hundreds of years and even now I only have a few jutsus for my storm release… At least you have a small example, what would the Shodai do, think like that." Sonea encourage and he nodded with determination in his eyes once again. She patted his head with a grin when she was done and packed away the first aid kit. "Get some sleep Tenzo." Sonea said, looking back at him, he looked like he wanted to argue but she shot him a short glare and he got under his blanket and was asleep quickly.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Okay I feel extremely crappy after that complaint I put up after hearing the news about Kishimoto's father, may he rest in peace. Also the episode was just late (Blushes like an idiot) And so for listening to my rants, here's the next chapter. Enjoy R&R.

Chapter six

It was the late afternoon as Sonea, still in Jyuubi chakra mode, made a fire and burned the blood stained cotton wool and decided to let go of her mode and revert back to her demon mode. She arched her back as her mouth opened in a soundless scream as she hunched over her crossed legs and clawed at her futon with stabbing pain from her seal. She lay there for a while not moving, not even breathing with her eyes closed and her teeth clenched and fists still dug into her futon as she slowly relaxed as the pain faded a bit and she was breathing heavily, almost panting for air as the stabbing pain in her lungs subsided as well.

"Shit." She breathed as she dizzily sat up and took a deep breath with her eyes closed again, hands on either side of her as she held herself steady as the dizziness faded. Great, all she needed now was a headache with all the other aches and pains she already had, not to mention the chakra poisoning as well. She dug in her bag again for the food pills and blood replacement pills and took one of each before taking two painkillers and laid down on her futon as the late afternoon passed by with her teammates sleeping and recovering.

As it began to get dark, Sonea got up and headed over to the nearby river, leaving a shadow clone behind to watch her defenceless teammates in case someone thought they would be easy pickings. She knelt by the riverbank and splashed water over her face and filled up their bottles and the water bag in case they woke up thirsty. She stood up and headed back over to the camp where her shadow clone dispelled itself suddenly and she got a bit dizzy and leaned against a tree.

"Sonea?" Kakashi's sleepy voice called and she righted herself completely and headed over to Kakashi who was blinking and wiping his eyes of sleep.

Kakashi had woken up to a dull thud and opened his eyes to see a black blur leaning up a brown blur he figured was a tree and called Sonea's name and he blinked a couple more times as his eyes cleared up and he saw Sonea heading over towards him and the tree behind her next to her so maybe he imagined seeing her leaning up against it. She kneeled down and picked up his head carefully and held his bottle to his lips after pulling his mask down and he drank the water offered to him before she pulled his mask up again and rested his head down again and left his bottle next to his futon as she sat quietly next to him.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, her eyes seeming blank but her face held concern, maybe she was just tired.

"A lot better than if you didn't pull that chakra out of me and heal my wounds, I say maybe tomorrow we'll be good to go again." Kakashi said, sitting up carefully and Sonea smiled… Kakashi hadn't seen how she held no emotion in her eyes thanks to her assassin training years ago to hide the pain she was in that might have been portrayed and he would have been over protective and worried all the time and right then they didn't need a set back.

"That's good, I must have cleared out the chakra then. Do you want something to eat or something?" Sonea asked, a little unsure. Kakashi smiled under his mask and pulled her to him and lay down with her as she tensed up in his arms a little and Kakashi just thought that she just wasn't prepared for being manhandled and that was the reason she tensed up before she relaxed with her back against his chest as she was feeling a bit cold walking around in a bikini like top.

"I'll take that as a no." Sonea said, laughing silently against him, she was glade he didn't notice her tense up from pain either as he pulled her against him. Kakashi had his arms wrapped around her and could feel blood was already soiling her bandages around her ribs and he wasn't happy with the amount of bandages she had all over her body down on her arms and shins to her hands and her back there were unhealed wounds which made him think and worry about Sonea a little before he fell asleep again.

Tenzo woke up, bright eyed and bushy tailed a little after Kakashi had fallen asleep and Sonea smiled from next to him up at Tenzo. Sonea began wiggling out of Kakashi's sleeping hold before Tenzo waved his arms and told her not to worry and to sleep in ANBU sign language and she smiled her thanks before falling asleep against Kakashi while Tenzo took watch.

The next morning, they all felt refreshed and decided to carry on with the mission to the next bijuu in Takigakure. After cleaning up the campsite and Sonea re bandaged her ribs and burns, they headed out. Sonea explained to them why she hadn't healed already and about the chakra poisoning from the close contact with the jinchuuriki and they understood after all, their burns from the jinchuuriki's didn't feel like normal burns especially after watching the procedure she did on them the day before.

They stopped in a town just outside of Taki for a while as Sonea gathered as much information as she could about the small ninja country and the jinchuuriki. They then left the town and headed into Takigakure's land and had a rough time as ninja were crawling everywhere, it was like Ishagakure all over again. They had to go ANBU style for a while and even ended up in a few fights now and again with the ninja and having to head to a completely different part of the country without stopping.

After nearly a month, they had to transform and enter a town to relax for a while as they were getting worn down and chased after every day and they nearly ended up as hostages a few times… Forcing Sonea to use the Jyuubi chakra mode a few times and causing a new round of pain she couldn't linger over. They got into the small hotel room, placed up a barrier and dropped the transformations, dropping their bags down. Sonea headed over to a bed, sat down carefully and twisted just as carefully to lie down on the bed and sigh as her joints and muscles welcomed the rest but then she shut her eyes carefully to ignore the weight sitting on her bruise like seal and her eyes watering from the discomfort. The painkillers were being taken on the hour and fading it enough to concentrate as well as taking an extra tablet after half an hour of taking the two dosage tablets which she knew wasn't good.

"Sonea?" Kakashi called after waving Tenzo off to use the bathroom first. He watched her get onto the bed and sigh but it seemed too short lived, she was in some sort of pain. He walked over to the bed and knelt down next to it as he brushed her hair back, she was already asleep. He ran the back of his fingers along her jaw and stopped to rub a thumb gently under the slight rings under her eyes, he had never seen her this run down before, her wounds haven't completely healed and she always grimaced slightly when she was forced to save them in Jyuubi chakra mode. After the battle and they were safe, she would go off on her own and come back in her demon mode, what wasn't she telling them?

"Senpai… She's wearing thin." Tenzo said as he came out of the bathroom and sat on the other bed with a towel around his neck.

"I've seen it too but she's too damn stubborn… We'll just watch her for now until she asks for help, the more we try to get her to accept our help, the further and longer she'll suffer but what she's suffering with is unknown to me… We'll just have to wait it out and hope she gets better soon." Kakashi said, standing up and leaving into the bathroom. They stayed in the town for a whole week to relax, be themselves and more importantly for Sonea, to deal with the pain and learn to live with it because it was only going to get more painful as time passed by and especially when she's around Naruto again. She didn't have to suppress a flinch every time Kakashi jugged her or grabbed her in their sleep anymore or someone or something touched her unexpectedly where she would normally turn around and beat the crap out of that person at the time and then realise who it was.

They left and entered their ANBU mode again around the ninja, luckily avoiding all the patrols and such but they where spending so much time avoiding the patrols, they were missing their purpose to find the jinchuuriki until one night they got lucky as they hid in some bushes and a patrol was passing by in a line. Sonea's seal began to throb on her back as she grimaced and watched the patrol hopping through the trees.

"The jinchuuriki's close." Sonea barely whispered but her teammates heard it.

"What are we looking for?" Kakashi asked in a whisper as they scanned the people passing by.

"Blue hair, orange eyes." Sonea said.

"You mean like her?" Tenzo asked, pointing at a girl that fit the description perfectly as she trailed behind the patrol at a leisurely pace.

"Yes, her." Sonea replied, watching her closely. "Stay here and I will intercept her, wait for my signal." She said as she moved out of the bushes and began to run to intercept her. Sonea dodged a few kunais that she threw at her as they both landed on the ground and the jinchuuriki girl was ready with another kunai attack.

"Wait, I just want to talk. I really don't want to fight you right now." Sonea said, holding up her hands in defence, watching for a sign of attack from the other girl.

"Fine, you have a minute before I kill you where you stand ssu." She said harshly.

"I'm sure you have noticed that I'm like you." Sonea said and her orange eyes hardened for a second before they looked her up and down, her thoughts seemed to be far away.

"What do you mean?" She said with a hint of confusion.

"I'm a jinchuuriki like yourself. I came to warn you, there are a group of nine people called the Akatsuki who wear black coats with red clouds on them and they travel in two's. They are trying to collect the jinchuuriki's to resurrect the Jyuubi. They will be after you to and kill you for the bijuu inside of you and if the Jyuubi is resurrected the world will end so I came to warn you and to be careful." Sonea warned and turned her back to her to walk away.

"Why is the Nanabi calling out 'mother'?" She asked with a softer tone and Sonea looked over her shoulder with a soft smile and soft eyes, seeming to comfort the girl a little.

"I probably shouldn't say this but I have a piece of the Jyuubi within me. I'll see you around." Sonea said quickly and quietly, making sure only the kunoichi heard her as she slipped into the shadows. Sonea watched her for a few seconds before she moved on. Her face showed that she was deep in thought, probably talking to the Nanabi and confirming everything. She seemed to wake up, shrug and move on. Her team and herself were lucky she was willing to listen and didn't decide to attack first, "Let's get moving, I want to be out of Takigakure as soon as possible." Sonea said, running in a different direction with Tenzo and Kakashi following behind.

"That was pretty calm compared to the other two jinchuuriki we came across before." Kakashi said as he kept up to Sonea who's cold red eyes were set ahead, never wasting a simple movement as her face was set in an impassive way, not portraying any thoughts.

"Yeah it was. Some of the bijuu harvest more hatred towards me and some less, it's all about luck as we come up against them one by one. Don't expect the same ease with the next few we come up against." Sonea said coolly, eyes never leaving the trees in front of her as they travelled for Hi no Kuni's boarders to go through up to Kaminari no Kuni next.

As the sun came up the next morning, their pace had slowed considerably as Tenzo took the position up ahead and Kakashi took the rear as was decided during the run, they were so close to Hi no Kuni's boarder, they could taste home when Sonea's step faltered and she ended up falling to the ground from the tree's. Kakashi swore and launched himself from the tree he had reached and grabbed her in a flip as he landed on his haunches on the ground with an unconscious Sonea in his arms and Tenzo hopped down with concern.

"Shit, she's burning up." Kakashi said, jerking his hand away from her forehead that was flushing along with her cheeks and the rest of her body as he looked her over.

"I'm fine…" Sonea said, opening her dull red eyes, pupils shot to nowhere as she tried to struggle out of Kakashi's hold to stand up before she slipped from his grasp only to land face first on the ground, not having the strength to push herself up when she was pulled into Kakashi's arms again as he stood up.

"You're not fine." Kakashi said as calmly as he could as he held her against him carefully like she would break in his arms right there.

"Senpai's right. Please, don't push yourself." Tenzo said with slight worry to his tone.

"Fine, but I want to make it to the boarders." Sonea said determinedly before closing her eyes and groaned a little with the pain the fever was already inflicting. Kakashi took that as a sign and took off like a shot at full speed, feet barely touching the ground as he ran with chakra enhanced legs, Tenzo following close behind as they crossed the boarders and got to a town where Kakashi slowed down enough to a fast walk and people moved out of his way as his aura told you not to mess with him right there as he got to a hotel and demanded a suit right away. The girl behind the desk flushed, thinking it was her romance novel coming true as she quickly booked them in and gave them a key, telling them to call if they needed anything. Kakashi walked away as calmly as he could, Sonea's unconscious and burning body sitting comfortably between his arms and hugged close to him as he all but ran down the corridors again and got to the suit that had a living are with three doors across the room with two rooms and one bathroom as he headed straight into one and discarded her coat as he sat her on his lap as he sat on the bed.

"Make her a cool bath quickly Tenzo." Kakashi ordered calmly with a slight shake to it as Tenzo complied automatically and began running the water in the tub in the bathroom.

"Kashi…" She whispered against his neck with her eyelids fluttering heavily to stay awake.

"Shhh, it's all right." He whispered shakily as he ran his now shaking hands up and down her coatless back.

"I… I don't want to die." She whispered shakily and began to cry into his neck.

"Don't cry Sonea, you'll make your fever worse. You're not going to die… You're not." Kakashi said gently but in a way sternly at the same time as he held her head in one hand and held her head against his neck as he held her tightly, worried for her… Could she really die right now? No, he wouldn't think of that right now. Tenzo came in and ushered Kakashi into the bathroom and Tenzo closed the door behind them. Kakashi sat her on the closed toilet and began taking off her clothes with a hard blush gracing his features as his shaking hands worked on removing the material and he avoided looking anywhere but her face and the clothes he was working on. He picked her up bridal style again and lay her gently into the cool bath and her face twisted in pain as did his, watching his angel in pain like this and she relaxed after a little while as he lay a face cloth across her forehead. He untied her hair out of the high ponytail and tied it up into a messy bun out of the water and he massaged the nape of her neck softly as he felt her temperature going down.

He reached over and pulled the plug out to let the water run out of the tub while he quickly found a big white fluffy towel. He reached into the empty tub with the towel and wrapped it around Sonea before picking her up and heading over to the room he was in and placed her under the covers of the bed. He grabbed the band in her hair and took it out carefully and brushed through her hair with her fingers a little as it fell around her, the way Kakashi thought she should always look as he pulled the towel out from the bed and hung it over the railing over the bathtub and headed back into the room where he sat in a chair that was in the corner of the room.

"Senpai?" Tenzo peaked around the slightly opened door. "How is she doing?" He asked, moving into the room and looking down at Sonea.

"Her fever has gone down for now but it will be back up again soon. Any suggestions?" Kakashi asked, rubbing a hand across his forehead absent-minded.

"I think we need to send one of your ninken back to Konoha for medical support, this could be more than just a fever." Tenzo suggested.

"Why didn't I think of that." Kakashi said with nervous sarcasm as he performed some hand seals. "Summoning jutsu." And Pakkun appeared.

"What's wrong Boss?" The pug asked nervously and on guard at his master's attitude.

"I need you to run back to Konoha and go to Tsunade. Tell her that Sonea has collapsed with a fever and erratic chakra signals and she's not healing like she should and bring back a medic as quickly as possible. I'm sorry for the long distance." Kakashi said to the small dog, still rubbing at his forehead as a nervous gesture that the pug recognised. He looked to Sonea and back to Kakashi with determination.

"Don't worry Boss, I'll get a medic here as soon as possible to save your mate." He said, running out the hotel silently and back to Konoha.

"Mate?" Tenzo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, you have a problem with it?" Kakashi asked dangerously as his eyes flashed with a predator's glare from behind his silver hair covering some of his face.

"N-No… Senpai." Tenzo choked out and raised his hands up in surrender and tight shoulders.

"Kashi… Leave Tenzo alone… He's worried too." Sonea said weakly and Kakashi was kneeling next to her bed in a second. "I think we may be here for a while." Sonea said, closing her dull red eyes with pain and Kakashi felt his chest constrict painfully as he put his hand in hers and entwined their fingers together just to ease the pain a little. He saw her bit her thumb and run the blood down the hand he was holding as a small seal popped up and a small poof as a small money pouch was sitting there now, she reached over with hooded eyes and picked it up before flicking it towards Tenzo who caught it with a small smile from her before she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

"I'll be around Kakashi-senpai, call if you need anything." Tenzo said softly before Kakashi heard the door close with a small click. He took his hand from hers and brushed back some of her hair before sitting back down in the lazy boy armchair and falling asleep sometime as night came.

Kakashi woke up to light hitting his eyelids and put a hand up to block it out as he opened his eyes and shifted to stretch in the chair. He froze mid stretch as he heard heavy and laboured breathing mixed in with whimpers and moans of pain and he stood up quickly and pulled the sweat slick covers off of her body carefully that had wrapped around her during the night. Her face was flushed again as well as the parts of her body he dare look at that were flushed and slick with sweat.

"Tenzo!" Kakashi called as he partially covered her up again and Tenzo looked inside and within one second, he was back in the bathroom again, running another cool bath as Kakashi tried to ease her pain if only a little bit. He raise his hand to her forehead and cursed as he jerked his hand away again. He cursed for multiple reasons. She had burnt him a little where he touched her forehead on his wrist, Pakkun was at least another day from Konoha and about two more before someone could get there and at himself for not stopping when he saw her acting like an empty shell after confronting the jinchuuriki… She would have been worse if she actually had to fight her.

At Tenzo's word he moved her into the tub once again as Tenzo went out to get some food. He knew how worried his senpai was for Sonea, even though it seemed a bit weird to see his senpai so… Lost, for lack of better words. Kakashi was unfocused and he had never seen him lose his cool before, not even when they seemed to be in impossible situations back in their ANBU days. Yes, Tenzo was worried that his senpai would break if Sonea died before her time and Tenzo didn't want to be around the man if that ever happened.

Kakashi lowered her gently into the water where her eyes fluttered open when she hit the soapy luke warm water and whimpered in pain from the fever. Kakashi's expression mirrored that pain as he began to wash her hair after being dampened from the sweat. Her tail slowly moved up from the water and scratched with the tip at her shoulder and hung over the side of the bath with exhaustion. Kakashi watched in shocked amusement and Sonea painfully turned her head to look at him.

"It was itchy and it is the only part of me that doesn't hurt right now." She muttered tiredly. Kakashi found it strange but amusing as he let a laugh escape, one that reached his eyes as the tail disappeared back under the water. Sonea smiled slightly that she could make Kakashi feel a bit better and laugh in such a situation, she wouldn't be so cool right now if she didn't feel so much like crap right then.

He took her out of the bath again and back into the bed with new sheets that Tenzo replaced before finding some food and she was asleep in seconds.

Kakashi dared to leave her to move into the kitchen where Tenzo was cooking something delicious a little later. It was his favourite miso soup with eggplant and Kakashi smiled as he knew that Tenzo was just as worried at his health as they were for Sonea's. They ate and chatted while Tenzo averted his gaze to allow the tired man to eat at a normal pace in his tired state.

"Senpai." Tenzo called while he was cleaning the dishes. Kakashi lifted his head from the table and looked at the man's back.

"What?" He asked tiredly.

"Why don't you go and rest and I'll watch after Sonea for a while and I will call you if something happens that I can't take care of." He said, turning to face his senpai while drying his hands off on a hand towel. Kakashi eyed him with suspicion but his insomnia decided it for him as he stood up and began to the second room.

"You touch her and you're dead." He said, waving his two fingered salute over his shoulder but Tenzo understood it was his way of saying thanks as Tenzo moved to the armchair in Sonea's room and took out his book while he waited.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

They both took turns watching Sonea and the routine of making her cool baths as her fever rose up high at least three time a day. They were doing what the could for the delusional girl but some of the things she said sometimes made them worry about her further, always ANBU nightmares and anyone in ANBU who didn't have nightmares were not mentally healthy but it had something to do with a kid and Naruto some how as she cried a lot as well about it, sometimes even woke up, screaming with a fever as it played with her mind and Kakashi was coming to the end of his wits end, he couldn't watch his girl suffer for much longer before breaking as well and Tenzo didn't need this right now because Kakashi knew he wouldn't be stable if he did break, possibly ending his career for good… How someone had effected him so much was something he couldn't wrap his normally stoic and calm mind around, did love really make you feel like this when they were in pain?

Pakkun reached Konoha in a record time in two and a half days, that wasn't bad for a short-legged dog. He lost the feeling in his legs about a day ago but knew he had to hurry for his Boss and his mate. He knew that Boss would die himself if he lost her before her time and he didn't want to see the man, who had lost everything once already, loose what he had found again because this time he would break.

He saw the hospital come into view and the sickly sweet scent, which was fresh, of Tsunade. The pug burst through the open double doors and continued to follow the scent at top speed and burst through another set of double doors when his legs finally gave out. He was in the medical training area and ironically Star was there training with Sakura, Ino and Shizune.

"Tsunade-sama." The pug panted out as he lay there. Tsunade looked in surprise and then worry cascaded over her face.

"Pakkun… Where's Sensei?" Sakura asked with slight worry as she picked the exhausted dog up and scratched him on the right spot behind his ears.

"What's happened?" Tsunade asked when she swiped the dog from Sakura's arms and moved away from the group as Shizune carried on with the lesson.

"It's Sonea, she has collapsed with a fever and erratic chakra and hasn't healed properly. Boss is requiring a medic as soon as possible." The pug said with a slight pant now as he relaxed and cooled down. Tsunade seemed deep in thought and worry as she strolled back to the lesson with the pug still in her arms.

"Star, come with me. Shizune, take over for a while, I have to tend to someone." She ordered and Star seemed a bit confused.

"Is Kaka-sensei okay Master?" Sakura asked after her.

"He is fine, it is one of his teammates, I will take care of them so don't worry Sakura." She said over her shoulders as she closed the double doors behind them and ran with the pug and Star to the supply room.

"Tsunade-sama, what has happened and why would you take me and not Shizune-senpai?" Star asked with worry and confusion.

"Sonea has collapsed." That was all she needed to say to her as they gathered what they needed. Tsunade was on Star's wolf form's back within ten minutes with Pakkun sitting on her shoulder. They would make it by nightfall if they were lucky. Tsunade was afraid something like this would happen and it happened later than she thought it would but what had caused those symptoms wasn't her seal by what Pakkun had told her or could it be the sever stress her body was under? She sighed, pushing the speculations away as it would do nothing for her and trying to treat Sonea when the arrived.

At the town, Pakkun led the way quickly with Star trailing close behind him through the town as the people moved out of their way for the odd team with the Hokage of Konoha and went to their own business quickly. The girl at the reception fainted, seeing her idol on a large pink and white wolf, her most favourite animal and the most adorable pug she had ever seen before. Tsunade jumped off of Star's back and entered the room while Star transformed into her human shape and followed after, completely ignoring Kakashi and Tenzo standing unsure in a defensive pose as they walked through to Sonea's erratic chakra and the already fevered girl. Tsunade put her hand on the burning forehead of the girl and flinched back quickly from the heat.

"Please remember Tsunade-sama that her body temperature is higher than a normal person." Kakashi reminded her with worry and she nodded and began to inspect her body with her chakra and stumbled back with surprise as Tenzo caught her with grace under her arms.

"Star, start a drip with a level five painkiller in it. Kakashi, Tenzo, please follow me." She said surprisingly calm as they followed her into the lounge and all sat down.

"I have good news and bad news, which do you want first?" She asked with hard eyes at the two guys.

"Bad." Tenzo answered and Kakashi nodded at his answer.

"Alright, the bad new is that she has some how contracted an advanced strain of the chakra virus and I had trained myself to detect it after our last near outburst from Naruto and Sakura. The good news is that her bloodline is fighting it off surprisingly well, if she wasn't who she was she would have… Died, days ago." Tsunade said sadly at the end. Kakashi fell back against the couch and closed his eyes tight, fighting off some anguish and letting relief flow over him.

"So, she'll be okay?" He asked with a bit of hope.

"Yes she will be but it may take a week or two to stop the fevers and a few months before she will be able to control her chakra properly again. You two have done well so I commend you on that. I will be staying the night to watch over her and I will leave Star here to keep a drip in her and she will return home after it is no longer needed. Now, go and get some rest, it looks like you need it." Tsunade finished with a smile as the two very tired men headed for the other bedroom and closed the door. Tsunade leaned against the back of her chair. "I need a drink." She said tiredly with a slight smile to her face. There wasn't much she could do for Sonea but keep her hydrated and up the level of painkillers since her bloodline was fighting it off quite easily but her weakened state is what caused her to go down so easily and wasn't able to keep up with the virus.

Tsunade stood up and headed into Sonea's room again where Star was now lying in her puppy form at the end of Sonea's bed and sleeping. She headed over to the sleeping girl and placed a glowing green hand on her forehead and sent in her senses, checking her body. The way her body almost sucked in natural chakra was every sages dream as she absorbed it even when she was moving. The virus was loosing the battle but it had just enough time to cause some damage to her system and had compromised her demon sage mode as she battled to keep it with her fluctuating chakra already but for the sake of her seal, she somehow still held it.

Tsunade healed the damage she could before sitting in the armchair in the corner of the room where she fell asleep. By the time she woke up, Star was already moving around, replacing the drip, checking her vitals and making sure she was responding to the little bit of treatment they could give her as Tsunade got up and went over them again. Sonea's pulse was stronger and her fever slowly breaking as she squirmed and her face scrunched up before her eyes fluttered open and looked at Tsunade with slight confusion.

"Tsu…nade?" She asked in a rough and broken whisper as Tsunade decided to check her throat and found it slightly damaged and began to heal it as Sonea coughed from the tickling sensation.

"Welcome back. How are you feeling?" Tsunade asked as she sat down next to her, checking her temperature as well.

"A bit rough and stiff but I think I'll live." She said with a small smile of amusement.

"Brat… Don't leave it so late next time, you would have died if you weren't this freak you are." Tsunade teased and she could see the amused glint in Sonea's eyes.

"Sorry, I thought it was a part of my seal, I didn't even think it could be anything like a sickness." Sonea said after taking a sip of water that Star gave her. "So, what exactly did I contract?" She asked, relaxing back into bed.

"An advance strain of the chakra virus, your bloodline has been taking care of it but with what your body is already going through, it affected you differently. So two weeks on a drip and Star will stay until you don't need it anymore and return home afterwards. Another week on liquids and bed rest after that. Then you can start moving around and eating solids and one more week before you can try to use chakra again like normal. No training for a month, do I make myself clear?" Tsunade told her sternly and Sonea nodded tiredly and tried to stifle a yawn as Tsunade stood up and stroked her hair back as tired red eyes looked up at her and battled to stay open. "Get some more sleep, you need it and your team is fine by the way." Tsunade added as Sonea nodded and her eyes fell shut quickly as her breathing deepened. She left her room back into the lounge where she saw Tenzo and Kakashi sitting on the couches and talking quietly

"How is she doing Tsunade-sama? " Tenzo asked her. They were both looking more awake and calm, showing what kind of hell they went through taking care of her and she smiled to herself a little.

"She'll make a full recovery in no time knowing her. Just make sure she follows what I told you last night and everything will be fine… So how has your mission gone so far?" Tsunade asked as she sat down next to Kakashi and took the coffee sitting on the table for her as well as the soup sitting there for her.

"It has been a slow and tedious task so far. Sabaku no Gaara had been alerted first with no problems. We took a lot of time through Ishagakure as they seemed to be on high alert and we had to slow down and hide. Tsuchi had taken up the most of our time as well as Takigakure that also seemed to be on high alert. Sonea was forced to face two level one jinchuuriki at the same time with little of our help and she managed to warn them and the last one was compliant as Sonea merely spoke to her and we went our separate ways. Sonea was drugged in Tsuchi with a high dosage of the date rape drug but we managed to take care of that quickly." Kakashi added and completed his report.

"I see… It was rumoured that Tsuchi was in a crisis with the chakra virus, I think she could have caught it from there when her system was down with that drugging incident… It explains a lot. She was awake this morning and still a bit delusional… I'll need an escort back toady since there was no way in hell my ANBU guards kept up with us yesterday." Tsunade said with a sigh, leaning back against the couch.

"So it wasn't one of Sonea's circle on guard duty then. Take Tenzo along I'll look after Sonea Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said calmly, Tenzo tried to hide a grin while Tsunade looked at him with a raised eyebrow before getting up and retrieving her things.

"You sure you'll be fine here senpai?" Tenzo asked as he got up to prepare for the trip back to Konoha.

"I'm sure Tenzo, I know how you don't like to be cooped up for a long time, it'll do you some good and get back into the ANBU swing again. I'll see you in two to four days Tenzo." Kakashi said, leaning against the couch, eyes closed with relief as he could finally relax. Tenzo smiled slightly and moved off to collect his things to take Tsunade back to Konoha that same afternoon. Kakashi waved a good bye to the two as they left with Pakkun also escorting them back and he laid down across the couch to get some more sleep since he still didn't sleep well knowing how sick his Sonea was… Sappy Hatake, he chided himself with a smile before sleep and exhaustion took him.

He woke up to light hitting his face and looked at the clock, either he had been asleep for a few minutes or he slept the entire previous day, he saw Star in the kitchen dressed in different clothes and decided it was the latter.

"How is she Star?" He asked the girl who was the same age as him but stuck in the body of a sixteen year old. She closed the fridge and flipped her blonde and pink hair back over her shoulder and smiled at him. She reminded him a lot like Ino except the eyes that were hot pink colour and the pink in her hair.

"Her fever broke last night and she's not delusional anymore, you may go in and see her, I'll be back in a short while to change her drip." She said to him as she sat on the opposite couch and closed her eyes with a small smile. Kakashi stood up and slowly as he could, made his way to her door where he knocked. He didn't hear a reply so he slid the door open carefully and peered inside to see the usual red and warm eyes staring back at him from under the covers that were wrapped around her up to the bridge of her nose and Kakashi chuckled and could see red tinting her cheeks that he could see as he moved in and sat on the bed next to her and brushed her hair back.

"You're looking a lot better." Kakashi teased and she scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

"You can only see my eyes, how would you know?" She teased back in a muffled voice from the blanket.

"Because… Your eyes are the most expressive part about you. I could see you straining by how dull they were getting but now they have their warmth back in them and I'm glad your okay." Kakashi said, still brushing her hair back in his fingers.

"Well I suppose they always say the eyes are the window to the soul." She muttered with an amused roll of they eyes again and Kakashi chuckled silently. "Can you get me some clothes from my bag?" Sonea asked, the pink on her cheeks coming back full force as she avoided his eyes.

"But it's so much easier to molest you this way." He said with an amused glint to his eyes as he slipped a hand under the covers and squirmed it closer to her and she flinched back with wide eyes and then scrunched them in pain as the blanket fell down to her neck, showing her facial features scrunched in pain with her jaw clenched and Kakashi panicked and put his hand against her cheek and rubbed back and forth with his thumb until she relaxed a little, keeping her eyes closed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, are you okay?" He asked and she nodded a little in his hand and opened her eyes that had dulled a little bit as they fell on the drip and Kakashi followed it and saw the drip had run out and on queue, Star walked in with a smile and began replacing the drip before leaving again.

"I'm okay but I'm just really stiff and sore from the pain. Thanks for taking care of me, how's Tenzo doing before he left with Tsunade-sama?" Sonea asked as she squirmed over a little and Kakashi lay down next to her on the blankets, turned on his side to watch her as they faced each other but Sonea kept her eyes closed tiredly.

"He was worried for the both of us but we both won't admit it. How did you know he left with Tsunade?" He asked with slight puzzlement and amusement.

"Just because my body has been weakened doesn't mean my senses have died down, my ears are still just as sensitive." Sonea said with pride in her voice. Sonea's tail caught Kakashi's hand before he could tickle her ear with a strand of her hair and she opened one eye at him and he eye smiled at her as he released the strand of hair and she released his wrist and put her tail away.

"That tail of yours could really get yourself into trouble." Kakashi said with a cheeky tone to his voice and Sonea smiled.

"Why, what ever do you mean? Does the great Hatake Kakashi have a furry fetish?" She teased and laughed silently to avoid pain.

"That would depend on what that tail could do." He purred seductively and a small shiver crossed her body and Kakashi couldn't help but laugh. "Later, we still have a lot of time left. Right now we need to focus on getting you better and finishing your mission, we still have four more bijuu to find." He reminded her and she nodded.

"Right, four more to go." She said tiredly with a yawn and her breathing deepened as she fell asleep and Kakashi kissed her forehead before taking out his book and decided to read for a while. He looked up when he felt her stirring next to him with a pained whine in her throat as she flipped over into another sleeping position and he felt his chest tighten.

He feels so vunerable to her in so many ways. The way she could always tell what he was thinking, how she could predict his next movements, how she makes him blush without consciously doing it, the way she could break down his walls and make him see, sharingan not withstanding. He put himself into the situation where he would end up being hurt again yet the pain in his chest tightened painfully and a thousand times worse when he thought about just standing on the side lines and watching her go through this and not be there with her.

He liked Sonea for who she was just like she did with him. It wasn't an infatuation love like many he had been in before, where the girl was infatuated with being with the famous Copy Ninja and not actually care to get to know the real him because they were so caught up in their fairytale image of him. In a way he was infatuated with her like that but that only deepened the feelings he already had for her.

When he was younger, he enjoyed spending time with her because she saw him as a normal person and knew him without the mask as well as she did with the mask, metaphorical or physical. When the 'adults' were talking, she would walk out with him and just talk normally, grasping that he wasn't just a child. He loved his father and mother and his sensei like a big brother and Jiraiya like an annoying yet loving uncle but he could never place his feelings for Sonea, he tried friend that day after his father's funeral but it felt like it ate at his already hollowed heart. So he tried aunt yet it also seemed to not sit right with his seven year old brain.

He began making sense when puberty began to hit him. He felt hot and stuttered every time he tried to talk to her and relished in the contact she gave him even when his natural instinct flinched away from it. When he admitted he missed her, it took a lot of courage but the smile she gave him told him she would never be too far away when he needed her and he was right even if she was a little late to save his teammates that were like a family to him, she always picked up his pieces. When she returned those few years after his father's death, he was working on Chidori then and the technique with the white flames were amazing and he fluked when he showed her his progression with Chidori.

He chuckled at the thought. The next day after that, she was off again to the boarders of Tsuchi no Kuni, she scolded him over Obito then kissed his forehead and his hand moved up to touch it in remembrance with a smile, he had his first wet dream about her that night and he completed his technique the next day. The guilt he saw in her face when she failed to save his team that fateful day at Kannabi bridge made his chest tighten and his feelings grew from there when she relaxed into his hand when he touched her cheek, it was so soft and warm which surprised him. He never saw her as a promiscuous girl and was glad to find out she avoided people as much as he did but as he found out later, it was for a bigger and totally different reason then that fateful morning came along and he told her in a strong and steady voice about how he felt for her and the same guilt returned to her eyes and she returned his feelings but told him it could go no further until she kissed him after Minato's death. She completely rejected him again then he told her one-day he would have her and left until he met up with her again and started to hang out a lot more.

Then his Team 7 came along with two genin in there she cared a lot for and he knew to tread carefully but failed anyway and she ripped at him, and he means literally, Chidori versus her Eye of the Storm jutsu, he saw the same guilt again but this time it wasn't directed at him but herself and he just broke when she walked off and only remembered now the blood pouring from her fisted hand as she walked away. And now he had her, he felt even weaker with emotions but stronger with her, like he could do anything but to see her this weak made him second guess that, they were all just human after all no matter the power.

"If you keep thinking so hard, I think smoke will come out of your ears." She said in a raspy and still tired voice. He looked down at her looking up at him with sleepy eyes and took notice that the room was darker as the sun was going down… Was he really lost in thought for so long?

"I'll keep that piece of information in mind. Sleep. I'll be right here." He said and she nodded and slept once again and he decided he needed some more sleep as he wiggled down the bed to lie down next to her and sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

Kakashi walked back into her room the next morning, eating an apple in one hand and reading his usual smut in the other. He woke up with Sonea still sleeping and curled into his side and then his stomach rumbled so he had to get up.

"What were you thinking so hard about last night?" Sonea's voice caught him off guard and he nearly dropped his apple but he did drop his book and stare at her. She was sitting up with the blanket tucked under her arms, amused red eyes watching him with a smirk on her lips as the morning light came through the open window blowing a slight breeze, making her hair fall around her like smoke and the sun reflecting off of her slightly paler skin just made her look god like right there and he bit into his apple and just stared. Sonea raised her eyebrow and watched his eyes glaze over like they were when he was thinking the night before when she woke up from some pain. "You broke your promise." She said deadpan that snapped him out of his thoughts.

"What?" He asked after swallowing and picking up his book.

"You said you'd be right here but when I woke up you weren't… And all for one little apple, I'm hurt." She said with an amused and fake tone of hurt as she put her hand on her chest over her 'hurt' heart.

"Maa, I didn't want to wake you with my monstrous growling from my stomach." He said, crawling up the bed to her after throwing away his core and placing his book down on the side table and she was watching with wide eyes, breathing speeding up a little and sat perfectly still as he came to straddle her and sit there on his heels, staring into her eyes as she stared back. She sat up and pulled down his mask slowly and began tracing his face with feather light touches, watching where her fingers touched with something smouldering in her eyes.

She leaned forwards, completely intent on kissing him but as their foreheads and noses touched, she flinched back a little and just stayed there with her eyes closed, cheeks flushing pink and her breath uneven as she second-guessed herself.

"Why do you always do that?" Kakashi asked, his breath washing over her and making her feel hotter and dizzy as she opened her eyes to find dark grey staring back as he still kept the contacts in.

"Do what?" She whispered out, fingertips still on his cheeks.

"Hesitate." He responded the same way with strain leaking through as he closed his eyes and opened them again slowly. "It's not like you've never kissed me before." He added to calm her down a little.

"That was different." She whispered out with strain on her voice as well as she closed her eyes and furrowed her brows. Kakashi knew she was over thinking this whole thing, a kiss was suppose to be simple and so he pressed his lips gently against hers, not wanting to wait any longer, before pulling back far enough again, nose to nose and forehead against forehead as he watched her with the same expression without the scowl but almost content. She hadn't responded to the kiss but he knew he caught her off guard as well and just simply waited.

She finally opened her eyes again and his breath hitched a little. They were the pure personification of love and complete trust as she added a crooked smile as he breathed out shakily but then he realised her fingertips were shaking against his face and she allowed her tired body to fall back against the pillows with a small smile and eyes closed contently.

"You look like you're about to faint." Kakashi teased, leaning over her on his hands and she opened her eyes again with a cheeky smile before she threw her arms around his neck.

"Shut up and kiss me." She said, pulling him down where she kissed him and he kissed back with an amused smirk. They got lost into each other just feeling each other's presence and just the pressure of their lips together made both of their hearts flutter and soar. Kakashi could feel her arms shaking around his neck so he broke the kiss, both panting softly as he took her arms gently and lay them down, his face still there by hers, resting his forehead against hers as they watched each other's emotions flow freely through their eyes. He smiled and pecked the corner of her lips and rolled off of her and laid down next to her and she shifted to curl into his side as he placed his arm around her and she tentatively put her head on his shoulder and rest her stiff hand on his stomach, higher up by his ribs with a pink blush still evident on her cheeks.

Kakashi could feel how nervous and rigid she was next to him and decided to find out more about her private affairs before him since he knew all about mission related things but they were very closed in people when it came to relationships and lovers. The thought made his blood boil somehow that someone had touched her before him but the same went for him plus she was hundreds of years old, of coarse she would have had a fling here and there.

"Not one for cuddling?" He asked her but she stayed just as rigid.

"I don't know… I guess not, it's odd for me I guess since the last time I cuddled with someone I cared for was when I was a toddler not including Naruto but we were just as stiff to the attention as each other." She said, unsurity in her voice.

"So you're more of a 'wham bam thank you ma'am' kind of girl?" He asked with some surprise to his voice.

"Hell no. I value my virtue way more than that… I just don't want to screw this up with you with the time I have left and I have no idea what to do. In missions it's different because you can act seductive but it just seems more complicated when actual feelings are involved." Sonea admitted and Kakashi was surprised.

"So… Are you a virgin then?" He asked and instantly he felt the heat on her cheeks bright red and she seemed more rigid in his arms. "Sorry, it's not my business…"

"No, it's okay… I'm as much a virgin as every other shinobi but it was that, just a mission the only one of them and with a girl." She said with a slightly higher octave to show how embarrassed she was.

"So it's a yes to my question then?" He asked with an amused smile on his face.

"No." She said plainly and Kakashi stiffened. "Remember the story of the necklace?" She asked as she shifted carefully and played with the pentagram around his neck with the two wolves chasing each other around it. He nodded as she seemed entranced as she played with it in her fingertips. "It was one of the last missions I did for the Rikudo Sennin to save his jutsu archives. I was caught in a war saving them and I was hurt and rescued by Hatake Ryuuzetsu." She said and Kakashi sucked in a breath.

"Hatake?" He asked and she smiled and laughed silently.

"I was still mortal back then and he rescued me and took care of me, helped me before I had to rendezvous with my team but in the process of one day I had fallen in love with him but I had a duty to the world to complete. This necklace fell out of a book that has saved my life and the members of my circle more than once and so I gave it to him on a promise I would meet him again one day as well as a thank you gift." Sonea explained with sad eyes as she remembered it after breaking through the seal a while ago that blocked it.

"And then you did meet up with him one day?" Kakashi asked with intrigue, holding her closer subconsciously.

"No I never saw him again after that day, he even asked me to go with him but my duty meant to save him as well as hundreds of people and so I chose the need of the many over the needs of the few and made love to him right there before I left… I've never loved anyone since until now." Sonea said and Kakashi wiped away a tear that escaped out of the corner of her eye.

"It's ironic really…" Kakashi began and Sonea looked up into his thoughtful eye that seemed to be staring at something far away. "Meeting a Hatake, falling in love then hundreds of years later meet another one by Light-sensei who I heard from Storm was the Yang release of your circle… I can't help but feel this is fate as well, finding the owner of that very same necklace you gave to your soul mate who ironically is also a Hatake." Kakashi said, looking down at her as she stared up at him in slight shock. She closed her watering eyes and leant her forehead against his shoulder and just cried silently for her lost love but also for her newfound love.

"Fate just loves to toy with me." She sniffed against his shoulder, still rigid cuddling with him.

"I feel like fate liked to play with me and my love life as well." Kakashi said and she looked up at him with red around her matching red eyes and he looked down at her with a crooked and timid smile. "I fell in love with the one girl I could never have…"

"But now you have her, if only for a little while." Sonea cut him off after putting her finger against his lips. He took her hand in his and entwined their fingers as Sonea watched with flushed interest as she rested her fingers around his hand, it felt like two pieces of a puzzle fitting together snugly and warm. He pulled her hand with his to rest on his stomach lower by his hip and placed his other hand gently on her head as he kept her close with a small content yet sad sigh.

"Yes, if only for a little while." Kakashi said softly as he rested his head back and closed his eyes, feeling her presence and body next to his, calming his whole being somehow.

Sonea slept most of the time as her body fought off the rest of the virus and kept her demon mode stable to hold down her seal. Every waking moment she was awake, Kakashi would get her to cuddle with him and day by day, she slowly relaxed a little even if she was still a bit rigid and they just talked about anything: Love, life, people they've met, Naruto and his team, the other rookies and such.

Kakashi came in a few days later and gave her some clothes to wear which Star helped her into as he 'feared for his virtue' he said in a mock princess pose with the back of his hand to his head, making Sonea laugh until she was crying and called him the 'King of Inappropriateness' as Jiraya and Minato had dubbed him once during his younger and less sensitive days. Tenzo came back the day after that saying Konoha hadn't changed and brought back some food that both Kakashi and Tenzo ate evilly in front of her and Star just laughed at the whole scene. Two weeks had passed by quickly and Star was no longer needed as she gave them their farewells and ran back to Konoha to continue her medical training.

Kakashi decided to check on Sonea one morning as he woke up even if he spent most of his time with her anyway, she was almost addicting to be around and Kakashi could just forget his worries around her and though of new ways of making her laugh as it sounded like little bells and glass wind chimes flowing gently through the wind… It also reminded him of the bells that were used for the bell test and passed on from sensei to student.

"You better have not moved that bed all by yourself." Kakashi said as he entered her room to find her bed pushed up against the window. She was leaning against the headboard of the bed wearing a black t-shirt and black shorts with one knee drawn up to her chest as she looked outside the blanket folded at the end of her bed, as she was eating something from a little brown paper bag.

"And what if I did?" She challenged him, throwing the pink sweet thing up in the air and waited for it to drop in her mouth, which it never did. Kakashi had caught it in mid flight and put it into his mouth quickly before stealing the bag from her as she tried to get it back from him.

"I thought you're not suppose to eat or move for another week." Kakashi scolded throwing another of her Turkish delights, as he soon found out, into his mouth and swallowing it.

"Star gave me those, it helps with my cravings." Sonea muttered as she sat back where she was and crossed her arms, glaring at him from the corner of her eyes.

"Cravings? You're not pregnant are you?" He teased and Sonea pouted angrily.

"How would that even be possible?" Sonea questioned with annoyance.

"I won't let you eat another piece until you elaborate how this sweet helps with your 'cravings'. Believe me, I will put myself through the torture of eating all of these if you don't give me an explanation." Kakashi threatened playfully, eating another Turkish delight and Sonea watched like it was pure torture.

"Fine! They help with my blood cravings okay. They are sweet like blood but not overpowering and have a similar colour plus it has a sort of fleshy feeling. It makes me forget for a while and I found Turkish delight to be a suitable substitute." Sonea said with annoyance in the beginning then turned into an almost sad tone as she looked back out the window.

"You could just ask me for blood you know?" Kakashi said giving the Turkish delights back to her.

"And risk killing you and going on a blood frenzy, not a chance its sacred and to be treated a hundred times better than gold." Sonea said half interested in her words as she examined the next sweet she was going to eat.

"You know, these are actually not that bad, they are slightly sweet but not in a bad way, I see why you like them now." He said, taking another piece out of Sonea's fingers with his teeth.

"Do you really have to tease me like that, this is torture enough." Sonea whined while pointing to where they were and Kakashi just chuckled.

"And they call me a pervert." He said, pulling his mask into place.

"No, you are a pervert who flaunts it and I keep it hidden, there's a difference." Sonea huffed like a five-year-old that Kakashi found adorable. "So, who was the last person, aside from me who has seen your face?" She asked cheekily poking at his masked cheeks.

"Teuchi and Ayame from Ichiraku Ramen." He said with mirth dancing in his eyes.

"Really? Please do tell the story behind it." Sonea asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My squad finally decided that they wanted to see under my mask that they decided to treat me for lunch, I was suspicious but at the right moment, Asuma's genin came in and blocked their view but not from Teuchi and Ayame so I decided that I would give in that once as long as I could torture my poor team. They even tried at a hot spring, again with food and the actual hot spring and when they finally came out and asked me I showed them another mask and they gave up after that." He said with happiness in his eyes, both the sharingan and his dark grey one after he decided to leave the contacts out when he was inside. Sonea smiled, they would have to wait many years to see his face and gain his full trust while she got to see it anytime she wanted.

"And what were their reactions, Teuchi and Ayame's?" Sonea wondered as she leaned back with a sly smile as she ate her sweet.

"Well…" Kakashi began, leaning back against the headboard, pointing a finger to his chin as he remembered. "I think Teuchi had a blush and Ayame had little hearts in her eyes but then again that's impossible." He said with a shrug and eye smile and Sonea laughed. "You're so cute when you laugh." Kakashi blurted out and slapped a hand over his masked mouth with wide eyes, a blush creeping up from under his mask as he watched Sonea's reaction. Sonea stopped her laughing instantly to stare at Kakashi with slight wide eyes with disbelief at what he just said and then she smiled crookedly and blushed as she looked away, her heart speeding up a little and fluttered then her expression dropped… That wasn't butterflies but the warning she was going to throw up. At an amazing speed of being stuck in a bed for nearly three weeks, she jumped off of the bed and headed into the bathroom to hug the toilet bowl as her body rejected her Turkish delights.

Kakashi watched her go pale and then scramble for the bathroom then he heard the familiar retching sound and frowned, must have been the Turkish delights and eating to early.

"Kashi." He heard her call weakly from the bathroom like she had been crying or scared. He stood up and headed over towards the bathroom and the moment, he set his eyes on her slouched form, his training kicked in.

_She couldn't breath, couldn't think… A wasteland before her, bloodied and barren, a power licking at her like the flames of a fire she couldn't control, scorching her and ripping at her skin… Dead, all dead and drained, a crimson moon reflecting her eyes as her seal broke down, her power alone not being able to hold it back anymore. She screamed as her back felt like it was being ripped into two and rubbed against sandpaper as black and spiky liquid flowed from her onto the floor becoming the shadow that had formed into the humanoid and impish being of the Jyuubi, grinning at her as she tried to get her thoughts back… A massive blow sent her flying backwards like a rag doll and laughter… So malicious and so familiar it sent chills down her spine for a doomed world she failed to save again._

There was so much blood as Sonea sat there, slumped against the wall, blood tainting her fingertips where she had ripped gashes along her skin and the blood continuously pouring from her eyes… A vision Kakashi knew straight away. He picked the stunned and scared girl up and placed her in the bathtub carefully so he didn't send her into shock as he turned the spray on and let it warm up as he found a face cloth and wet it as well. He began to sing a song she had sung not to long ago even if he wasn't the best of singers, his familiar voice would keep her calm as he wiped at her eyes that were mixed with blood and tears as she sat rigid with her knees pulled up and her hands just stuck in a clawing position as they shook.

She spoke the words of the song with Kakashi as he saw her relax a little under the water he was spraying over her wounds that were already healing but she now had glowing red eyes meaning she lost a lot of blood already. The gashes were at her neck and her lower back she could reach and along the insides of her arms… He didn't even leave her that long mean the vision began as she jumped off the bed and she clawed as she threw up. Her voice softened as she now sung the song on tune and her arms were crossed in her lap resting as she kept her knees drawn up but she was staring a little, eyes a dull red like old blood.

"Sonea?" Kakashi asked in a careful whisper as the water continued over her as he sat on his haunches and washed away the still pouring blood from her wounds. She looked at him, snapping her head to the side and Kakashi was afraid it was enough to snap her but she just hugged him tightly around his neck and he held her tightly back, glad she would be okay… Why did everything have to happen to this amazing girl in his arms?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

The night was cool and calm outside but in that rented room right there, the atmosphere was still a little tense. Kakashi leaned back against the headboard of the bed with his hands clasped behind his head, the moon was shining in through the window and onto the ball next to him. Sonea had curled in on herself and almost shut down completely as he dried her off earlier on.

She took the clothes from Kakashi and changed into them smoothly with her back to him, her whole presence screamed calm and stable but she was far from it. She turned back to Kakashi and ignored him as she went back into the bedroom, the same position as before, in the corner by the window, on knee pulled up against her chest as she leaned back against the headboard and stared out of the window.

She didn't move a muscle as Kakashi sat down next to her. She looked like she had completely turned off but there was something shimmering in those cool red eyes and Kakashi left her to it. In the evening she had curled into a ball with her back to him and proceeded to fall asleep but Kakashi couldn't.

He watched as the moonlight reflected off of her skin, giving her a dark glow to her pale yet tanned skin and hummed in thought. Her body shifted slightly at the sound, closer to him in a way until her back was touching the side of his thigh. Her skin was warm but there was coldness around her at the same time coming from her aura and Kakashi growled low in his throat as his brows furrowed. His growl soon stopped when a black tail flicked out and knocked him slightly on his chest and lay there and Kakashi smirked in amusement as he ended his growling. He wasn't sure how long he just sat there and watched her sleep but soon light replaced the moonlight as he absentminded played with the tip of her tail flicking lightly against his chest.

"The cat and the wolf…" He mused in a whisper thick with sarcasm.

"I'm not a cat." The body next to him mumbled sleepily as her tail flicked out of his hold and lay across her still curled up body.

"Well then, what animal do you want to be then?" He asked, lying on his side with his head propped up on his hand.

"I'm a wolf too since that is my spirit guide's form." She said, turning over and facing him. Kakashi noted the rings under her eyes still and her wounds were still little pink scars, her eyes glowed dully from the loss of blood and her eyelids hung heavy with exhaustion.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, a hand coming to her neck and rubbing a pink scar with his thumb, he didn't like to see such an ugly line on her perfectly flawless body.

"Tired… Sorry for scaring you like that, I didn't even know I had the fingernails to cause such damage." Sonea said as she also raised a hand to her neck and touched the scars carefully.

"By the amount of damage you did, I think you started clawing as you hopped up… I should have smelt the blood sooner, I'm sorry." He said, caressing her cheek with his thumb now. Sonea regarded him thoughtfully then flinched at the screeching laughter of the Jyuubi in her head.

"It's not your fault but the Jyuubi is laughing at me, it was probably just a cruel joke." Sonea said with sad annoyance as she looked down at her hands and fisted them into balls as she focused on her scars as they began to fade with some concentration from her.

"You shouldn't be using your chakra yet." Kakashi scolded her and she smiled.

"Not really chakra since it's a part of my clan ability, so don't worry to much besides, I still managed to hold my demon mode this whole time." Sonea said with an arrogant smirk and Kakashi sighed before flopping onto his back.

"You're going to kill me with worry." Kakashi said and Sonea curled up into his side carefully, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You did sign the contract with a kiss." Sonea said cryptically and laughed.

"I don't remember this relationship's 'contract' involving scarring your spouse half to death by bleeding everywhere." Kakashi groaned out.

"Well it did involve the worrying part." Sonea said seriously and Kakashi nodded with a hum of agreement. Kakashi heard her breathing pick up and the wavering of her chakra.

"Can you get me my bag that Star left?" She asked, her voice sounding heavier and the exhaustion seeping into it. Kakashi leaned slightly to the table and picked up the little brown bag Star left with her as well and passed it to Sonea after helping her to sit up without getting too dizzy. She took out some pills and swallowed them dry before placing the bottle back into the bag and passing it back to Kakashi before lying back down, curling up and in seconds she was asleep again.

Kakashi got up as soon as she was asleep and headed into the shower since he had a slight smell of blood to him and got dressed into a black sleeveless shirt with the mask and some track pants instead and found Tenzo reading in the lounge area as Kakashi came out, towelling his hair and then hanging it around his neck before sitting down next to him and picking up some tea Tenzo made earlier.

"Senpai." Tenzo said, closing his book and watching his mentor. "What was that smell of blood yesterday, I haven't seen you since yesterday morning." Tenzo asked with worry and Kakashi sighed as he leaned back against the couch.

"Sonea had a vision and she clawed at herself badly but she's fine, just tired so I left her to get some more sleep." Kakashi explained calmly yet seriously.

"I see. Did she say anything about what it was about?" Tenzo asked, studying his mentor.

"No but the Jyuubi did laugh at her. She said it was a cruel joke so if she's not worried about it then I don't think we should be… She knows the beast and herself better than we ever could even if we spent a lifetime with them." Kakashi explained calmly as he got up and put the cup into the sink and leaned back against it with his hands holding the counter. "I'm going to get some air today if you don't mind holding down the fort for a while Tenzo, Sonea should be sleeping for a while so just check on her now and again." Kakashi said with a wave and left the hotel room with his hands in his pockets. Tenzo nodded with a hum before turning back to his book to read some more.

He looked up from his book and noticed he had been reading for nearly five hours and decided to check on Sonea before his senpai got back and scolded him. He put his book down on the table and stood up, stretching a little before walking over to Sonea's room and knocking. He stepped in and left the door open as he walked in towards her still lying on the bed with her back to him as the sunlight bounced off of her. He stepped up to the side of the bed and reached out his hand and everything happened in a flash.

He found himself lying stomach down on the bed with his arms being held behind his back uncomfortably as he tried to struggle out of the hold to notice Sonea was the one holding him down and sitting on his thighs so he couldn't move even if he tried. He craned his neck to the side to look at her and saw conflict in her eyes that were glowing dangerously as she growled from her slightly pulled up lips then he noticed the extended canines and knew he was screwed if he didn't find something to do so be began to focus his chakra for his wood release.

"Back down Shadow." Kakashi's voice commanded from the doorway. He had returned to the room with no Tenzo there but Sonea's door wide open and he carefully crept to her doorway to see actual fear in his partner's eyes as he saw Sonea's conflicted emotions as she held him down. Tenzo felt her body flinch as she slowly and unwillingly let go of his hands and crawled off of him quickly to curl up in the adjacent corner in a ball, hiding her shame behind her knees that were pulled up to her chest.

"I'm so sorry Tenzo." He heard her whisper out with guilt and restraint.

"Tenzo… Can you leave us for a few minutes, maybe make us tea?" Kakashi asked coolly, his eyes glued to Sonea's cowering form.

"Right Kakashi-senpai, I'll be in the lounge." Tenzo found himself saying, already heading past his senpai and closed the door behind him as he headed into the kitchen and his hands shook, it was one of the most terrifying positions he had ever been in… She could have killed him with a finger if her single-handed hold on his now bruising arms were anything to go by.

Kakashi watched as Tenzo walked past with a shake to his voice and whole form, screaming out fear and he closed the door as he returned his gaze to his girlfriend in the corner across from him. He walked across to her making enough noise as she flinched harder the closer he got, grabbing her bag on the side table and pulling out the blood replenishment pills along the way before stopping in front of her and making a small cut on his wrist and getting on his haunches.

To Sonea, this was the whole hospital 'incident' all over again and cringed every step. Then the glorious sound of blade cutting flesh caught her vampirism attention and the irony yet satisfying smell of blood hit her nose and she looked up into Kakashi's grey eyes with guilt written on her face. She watched as the blood from his wrist followed the crevasses of his hand down to his fingertips where it began to drip off of his fingertips and swallowed her burning throat.

"Take mine." Kakashi said coolly and held out his wrist to her. Sonea decided to leave out the 'blood is sacred' speech as he had heard it enough. She took his wrist in her hands and licked the wound, the irony taste filling her senses, making her body tingle with anticipation as she watched the wound close up and leave no scar. Kakashi was confused but then she reached up to his mask and pulled it down to his collarbone and moved her face to the crook of his neck. He heard a whispered 'I'm sorry' before he felt her fangs pierce the same place they did once before.

He got light headed after a short while and popped one blood replenishment pill into his mouth and swallowed it as he felt her retract her fangs from his neck and her tongue across it to heal it up as she rested her forehead against the crook, breathing heavily with slight sobs. She began a mantra of 'sorry' as her hand wrapped around the nape of his neck and held him close as she focused on breathing again.

Her hand was falling limp against his neck and the mantra slurring as she began to fall asleep again as she finished healing and repairing the damage. He picked her up and laid her in bed again, covering her with the blanket before standing back to look at her as he readjusted his mask back on. She seemed less pained than before and there was a cute flush on her cheeks as she breathed deeply, her mouth slightly pouted and open as she expelled her breaths. He needed to check on Tenzo so he left her to sleep as he sat across from his friend and partner who was staring down into his cup that was shaking with his hands and looking slightly paler than usual.

"She really did want to eat me didn't she?" Tenzo questioned, not changing his gaze.

"There is a reason her clan was named after blood… She feels extremely sorry and guilty about what happened. She'll be back to normal when she wakes up and I'm sure she'll want to apologise in person." Kakashi said coolly, examining his friend.

"I read her file before we left… I shouldn't have been so careless so it's partially my fault. I will apologise to her too. There is one thing I want to ask senpai?" Tenzo asked, looking up at Kakashi, seeming to be a bit calmer now.

"What might that be Tenzo?" Kakashi asked with some curiosity.

"Why didn't she attack you this morning when you were with her?" Tenzo asked and Kakashi sighed before getting comfortable on the couch, it could be a long explanation.

"She's had my blood before… So there is something called a blood bond that has been partially completed between us, meaning she had accepted me as a worthy mate, kind of like the Inuzuka clan. Maybe it's easier to control around a mate?" Kakashi wondered and Tenzo's eyes had gone wide.

"So you…" Tenzo asked and Kakashi nodded.

"It's apparently an inseparable bond that is why it's partially complete so I offered my blood like the first time, she'll be back to normal when she wakes up. This is as much as I'm permitted and comfortable explaining about and all you have to know. Please remember this for future situations Tenzo." Kakashi explained with warning and Tenzo nodded sternly.

"Yes sir." He said in his ANBU tone, feeling calmer he wasn't going to get attacked again as he drank his cold tea. The two men chatted calmly for the rest of the day before retiring for the night to the same room.

Sonea woke up feeling physically a hell of a lot better but conscience wise felt as guilty as hell. She remembered pinning Tenzo down and fighting back her natural instinct to replace her blood since her chakra was still hard to control but manageable to keep her demon mode and handle the Jyuubi. She got out of bed carefully and stretched a little and concentrating on walking. It was a day earlier than she was suppose to be from moving around again but she could feel the blood Kakashi gave her working and making her feel healed. Sonea stifled a yawn as she dragged her feet into the living room and then the kitchen. She was looking in the fridge when her tail caught a kunai that was flung at her over the counter without averting her gaze at the food in the fridge.

"That wasn't very nice Tenzo." She said tiredly finally deciding to eat a granny smith apple and passed the kunai back to Tenzo.

"I'm sorry, I knew senpai was still asleep and I didn't expect to see you up and moving so easily and so soon." He said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, standing by the kitchen table while she leaned back against the fridge, one arm across her chest as well as her ankles crossed as he stood nervously and tense.

"I should be the one apologising Tenzo… For attacking you, I should have warned you earlier about my 'tendencies'." Sonea said, sitting at the table while Tenzo turned on the kettle.

"Senpai warned me last night so I'll be careful next time around, so don't worry, all is forgiven Sonea." Tenzo said, leaning back against the counter and his whole being was screaming apology.

"Hopefully there won't be a next time but thank you." Sonea said with a smile as she threw the apple core behind her and it landed in the bin. Tenzo finished making tea and sat down with three cups as Kakashi came in and joined them at the table.

"You shouldn't be out of bed yet." He scolded her and she just smiled cheekily.

"Yeah well we've wasted enough time with my illness, we need to get back to it ASAP." Sonea stressed, switching seriously again and they both nodded. "You've been slacking with worry which was proved by Tenzo and my 'good morning kunai' by him and a little bit of moving around one day before won't hurt especially with your little 'boost' again Kakashi… Thank you for that and for stopping me." She said with a smile and Kakashi eye smiled.

"What do you have in mind?" Tenzo asked, smiling at the familiarity of being back into the mission again.

"I want to find the spy in this town today plus you two need to get back into routine of training again while I stretch out my muscles to be used properly again." Sonea explained.

"Tsunade-sama said no training for another week." Kakashi reminded her harshly and she just laughed with malice.

"I don't call 'stretching' training now do I? Besides I want to get moving in the next few days and head for Yu no Kuni (Hot springs country) and stay near the boarders of Yuki no Kuni (Snow country) until we are ready to head into Kaminari no Kuni and get this all over with. We only have four more bijuu to find and we can return back to Konoha, what do you think?" She asked them.

"You need to take it easy, why not start next week?" Tenzo asked with concern for her health still.

"I'll be fine for some plain travelling plus I'm so board and as soon as we are ready to go properly again, we are right at our next targets. I thought it would be a smart move." Sonea stated with an arrogant yet carefree shrug. Tenzo sighed with defeat while Kakashi chuckled silently.

"You never give up do you?" Kakashi asked rhetorically with sarcasm to his voice.

"Believe it!" Sonea said with enthusiasm, making both her and Kakashi pack into laughter at their little blonde's favourite catch phrase.

"We'll see how your muscles and stiffness gets before planning further and get back into training before we find the next few jinchuuriki just to get back into the swing of things, what do you think?" Kakashi asked seriously after the laughter calmed down.

"Deal. We'll get dressed and ready then we can get going plus I have studying for you two that I completely forgot about." Sonea said with a grin and both men moaned with annoyance while her grin grew bigger. They let Sonea use the bathroom first then they went in afterwards.

Sonea had gotten dressed into her shorts and bikini top and began digging in her bag for the guy's study material and had things thrown across her unmade bed while she searched and organised her bag again. She finally found the scroll she was looking for and stroked over it with memories and love as it had belonged to Minato before hand. She had decided last minute that it would be a good idea for them to learn about seals because knowing their enemy, they would use seals to cover their presences especially if they had already obtained the body of the Jyuubi from the moon… She shuddered at the thought as she pocketed the scroll and repacked her bag.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been a few days but they've been hectic… Plus I tend to get a bit distracted… If I had a dollar for every time I got distracted… I wish I had a puppy…

ANYWAY, moving swiftly forwards, here's the next chapter and I think if I get at least one review in less than twenty-four hours, I'll post two chapters tomorrow so as always R&R

Chapter ten

She walked back into the lounge area with her arms stretching over her head and a Cheshire cat grin from the nice stretching feeling in her back as it clicked back into place. She followed the two presences into the kitchen where Tenzo and Kakashi were sitting quietly mulling something over in their heads and Sonea stood behind Tenzo and put her hands on his shoulders and he jumped and fell off of his chair onto the floor on his back.

"Why so jumpy Tenzo?" Sonea asked with concern and slight furrowed brows at the man as they all sat at the table again.

"I've just had a bad feeling recently and I think it's making me slightly paranoid." Tenzo confessed and Sonea scowled.

"Well we can't dwell on it too much but we'll keep our eyes open. Okay, here's the scroll I want you two to study." Sonea said, taking the little green scroll trimmed with gold out and set it on the table and she could see Tenzo and Kakashi smirking at it's little size. She touched a little seal on it's size and in a poof it became bigger and landed back on the table with a dull thud, it was the size of the scroll that Jiraiya carries around with him and now Sonea was smirking, Tenzo and Kakashi's jaws were hanging open with wide eyes.

"What the hell is that?" Tenzo asked, shock still in his voice.

"A scroll on seals the Yondaime composed. It contains information on different seals, how they work and how to get rid of them and stop them. Who knows what type of seals Akatsuki uses to hide their traces and protect their bases so we need to know and be prepared for them." Sonea explained as she stood up and unrolled the scroll a little and smiled at the familiar writing a little. "While you two study for a while, I'm going to find one of Jiraiya's spy's and try to pinpoint the last four jinchuuriki." Sonea said, shrugging on her coat.

"You should take someone with you in case this time." Kakashi said with worry and Sonea rolled her eyes.

"Like I said before, you worry too much. I'll be fine, we're in Hi no Kuni boarders so I'll definitely be fine." Sonea said with a wave over her shoulder and left with a shimmer and Kakashi growled with annoyance.

"She'll be fine senpai." Tenzo reassured him as they turned back to the giant scroll and began studying.

Sonea ended up outside of the hotel and walked with her hands in her pockets and noticed a Konoha shinobi or two now and again and smiled as she headed up town to a specific bar to find Jiraiya's spy. It was a nice fancy bar with a jazz band playing on the little stage as everyone sat and enjoyed it in little velvet red booths almost like an auditorium and Sonea laughed at how underdressed she felt.

"What can I get you miss?" The barman asked, normal features with plain brown hair and eyes wearing a dress shirt and waistcoat in black with a red bow tie finishing the typical look.

"One Bloody Mary, please."

"Make that two." A male voice said next to her as the bartender nodded and moved off to do just that. "Sonea Storm Shadow, I never thought I'd see you in such a high class bar." The man chuckled. Sonea scowled at him and took in his features. He looked way too familiar yet different then noticed the transformation jutsu surrounding him but dared to use her sharingan to check as their lives were personal and dangerous as spies for Jiraiya. This man was maybe just in his twenties, black hair and black eyes and just longer than shoulder length hair, tied back with a red ribbon at the nape of his neck and he wore a black cloak.

"Should I know you?" Sonea asked, still studying him and she shivered when he looked at her, he was so familiar.

"Yes and no but I'm Jiraiya's spy none the less. Jinchuuriki huh?" He asked and nodded his thanks to the barman as he passed Sonea her drink.

"Yeah…" She said, deciding to drop the previous topic. "What information do you have for me?"

"Right then… There are two in Kumo and one currently a missing nin from Kiri, the last one hasn't been found yet but should be somewhere by Kiri since it died there from Yagura's death. Akatsuki are also moving a little, they're on a similar mission to you but only locating the jinchuuriki for now, making sure of their positions before they start moving again." The man said, staring forwards with Sonea who was scowling, he knows a lot of information. She turned her eyes and looked at his black ones. They seemed almost happy and calm to be talking to her and the slight smirk on his lips proved it and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as his chakra wafted over her a little.

"Very well. I must be getting back, you've been very informative and helpful so thank you… I must be on my way." Sonea said, standing up and paying for her drink while the man nodded and kept occupied with his. Sonea went around the corner out of his sight and blended into the shadows and returned to watch him. The man eventually got up and left towards the back doors and Sonea followed him in the shadows, trying her best to reign in her chakra that was still uncontrollable from the damn virus and cursed mentally.

He left through the back door and Sonea slipped out with him and up into the shadows along the alleyway and watched as the man released the transformation and Sonea's breath caught in her throat with wide eyes as she struggled to keep quiet… That man was familiar because he is Uchiha Itachi. She swallowed hard as his shark like partner came walking up to him with his usual toothy grin and a few words were exchanged before they walked off with their straw hats on. She couldn't let this opportunity slip by as she continued to follow the pair.

They got to the town gates then took off at top speed and Sonea didn't dare to follow afterwards as she jumped down and leaned against the gates, breathing hard with her hand to her chest and wide eyes as everything set in from what happened. She slid down the post as her legs got shaky and weak from the sneaking around, her muscles stayed taut the whole time and were now exhausted from three weeks of staying in bed.

She stood up after regaining control over her breathing and shakily walking back to the hotel room, remembering everything Itachi had said about the jinchuuriki and right now she was loosing the tug of war against Akatsuki and fate. Perhaps the Jyuubi wasn't playing with her at all with that vision it gave her… It was bragging in saying she couldn't do anything and it would be whole once again. She opened the hotel room door and collapsed on the couch, still staring and going over the conversation in her head over and over again.

"Sonea, is that you?" Kakashi called from the kitchen but she didn't hear anything except her fast heartbeat pounding in her head. The two guys looked at each other and both picked up a kunai and headed into the lounge and relaxed when they saw Sonea sitting there. "Why didn't you respond?" Kakashi asked but then noticed her tenseness. "Tenzo, make her some coffee with lots of sugar, it seems she might be in a bit of shock." Kakashi commanded with worry and Tenzo moved back to the kitchen to do that while Kakashi sat on the coffee table in front of her and waited patiently.

"I want to be out of here tomorrow." She said eerily and Kakashi scowled.

"What's happened?" Kakashi asked her, bending down a little to look into her eyes.

"We're falling behind and being followed, lets drop them suddenly before they have time to regroup and follow after us." Sonea said, snapping back to herself a little bit and looking up at him. "Jyuubi's not playing around." She said in a bare whisper that sent chills down his spine. Tenzo came in and passed the tea and coffee, seemingly Sonea had passed over her initial shock as she took in and sipped, leaning back against the couch as Tenzo joined her and Kakashi stayed on the coffee table.

"So what happened?" Tenzo asked with curiosity and worry after a short while of eerie silence.

"It's been confirmed, we're being followed, we're moving out tomorrow, top speed. No more waiting and no excuse, we can't make another mistake and hopefully we'll loose them along the way so be prepared an hour before sunrise tomorrow morning." Sonea said, snapping back to captain mode easily and quickly.

"Did you happen to find out whose following us?" Tenzo asked and Sonea stiffened up a little and Kakashi caught the very slight movement.

"No." She said in a monotone and Kakashi scowled, she was lying but kept quiet. There was guilt, fear and annoyance in her red eyes that squeezed at Kakashi's chest, he just wanted to hold her and sooth her, telling her everything would be okay but he didn't know for sure.

"Right, I'll go and start packing and cleaning up, you should do the same." Tenzo said, stopping by the kitchen along the way to put their empty cups down. Kakashi watched Sonea who suddenly found her hands in her lap very interesting. The bedroom door closed with a click and Kakashi found himself with his arms full of Sonea who was hugging him and pulled him to stand up along the way.

"I can't keep doing this." She whispered weakly in his ear as her shoulders shook and Kakashi secured her in his arms.

"You have to. Everyone is depending on you right now so you have to be strong… I know it's tough but I'll be right there with you until the end and so will everyone else… You have to keep going, for everyone including yourself Sonea." Kakashi said gently but stern enough she wouldn't argue back. She nodded and clutched him tighter as she buried her face into the crook of his neck and he tilted his head slightly as comfort towards her. They stood there like that for a while before Kakashi got tired and picked her up into his arms and headed over to her room where he placed her down on the bed to find she was actually asleep and he chuckled silently. "Only you could fall asleep on your feet." He chuckled as she stretched and flipped onto her side but he could still see the tension in her body and looked around to find she was already packed and ready to leave. 'I wonder if you saw this coming.' Kakashi wondered to himself.

He left her to sleep as that little bit of exercise seemed to have warned her out so he decided he'd go and pack while she was sleeping and wake her up when need be. He returned to his room with Tenzo who was moving around quickly, packing his things.

"Tenzo…" Kakashi began when he turned towards him.

"I know senpai… Sonea's lying and afraid as well as extremely sore… She's in a completely different position from us. To die for our village is a great honour but if she were to die for her village it would be a disgrace and destroy the world. To just live while people actually 'live' their lives and watch them pass by… It's a wonder she hasn't snapped yet." Tenzo said seriously and Kakashi's fist shook before his knees gave out strangely and Tenzo caught him and sat him on the bed in one smooth movement.

"She just keeps on shutting everyone out… Not even her circle can get through to her, I can't get through to her… Minato-sensei only got so far before she completely went back to how she was before, wearing a mask all of the time, never breaking and sinking deeper into her own despair and personal hell. I can't keep watching this and feel so useless." Kakashi said, squeezing his eyes shut while his fists shook with frustration.

"I have only known her for a short time but I've known you for ten years senpai and you're not using your favourite pass time… Looking underneath the underneath. You've known her for so long that you've never bothered to watch her and learn about her. She's an open book if you learn how to look past the underneath senpai… Keep that in mind." Tenzo said with a knowing smile at his senpai's disbelief look. "Get packing Kakashi-senpai, Sonea won't be happy if we're late."

"Thank you Tenzo." Kakashi said in barely a whisper as he leaned back against the bed.

Sonea woke up at nightfall feeling a little stiff and sore as she sat up with pain in her scrunched up features. She stood up and focused on stretching enough to loosen the muscles just enough so she didn't hurt with every movement. There was a knock at her door and she shouted for them to come in and light flooded the room with Kakashi standing and leaning against the doorframe.

"Sleep well?" He asked calmly, not moving from the door.

"Yeah, did you get some rest too at least?" She asked as she tied her hair up and he pushed off of the doorframe and headed in towards her. She tensed up with confusion and dropped her hands to her sides until he was right in front of her and they just stood and looked into each other's eyes, red meeting the mismatched grey and red. She twitched as chakra covered fingertips touched her arm then soothed the muscle that had become stiff and she couldn't help the little sigh with it's release as she closed her eyes.

"What can other people see that I can't?" Kakashi whispered out and she opened her eyes to see something close to agonising frustration in his eyes as he continued to relax the muscles in her back, still watching each other's eyes.

"Kashi… What do you mean?" She asked in a whisper with worry as he studied her features.

"I can't see underneath your underneath… It's so infuriating." He whispered right back with frustration clear in his voice. His other hand moved up to cup her cheek gently as she leaned into the warmth of Kakashi and sighed as he released the muscles in her thighs.

"Maybe it's because you're looking too deep… You've known me for so long, you just miss the subtle hints or the little things that give me away to other people." Sonea whispered, nuzzling his hand with her eyes still closed before his whole warmth disappeared from her and she opened her eyes in complaint to see him just standing there in front of her again, looking a little calmer but studying her intently with his gaze and she blushed under the scrutinizing. "Why'd you step away?" She questioned with a pout and Kakashi just eye smiled.

"We'll be moving out in a few hours and you said you want a good stretching before we go… Do you need any help?" He asked, his chirpy tone of voice back as well as his perverted sense of humour she could see by his slightly shaking shoulders from laughing. Then she smirked, he did offer so sweetly.

"Yeah sure, I could use the extra bit of help to push me beyond my limits." She said with a lewd grin then saw Kakashi's eyes go wide as he blushed and it crept over the mask. She smiled and held out her hand to him and he step forward and took it as she positioned him behind her, his feet bracing inside of hers shoulder width apart. She began to twist her upper body and he took her arms to pull her further then twisted the other way.

"You still seem extremely supple for being in bed for three weeks." Kakashi said, watching her intently, remembering it with his sharingan.

"That's the nice thing about being a dancer build rather than training build but it'll take a while until I can get my muscles back though." She explained as she turned to face him and linked his hands behind the small of her back as she bent backwards and touched the floor behind her then grabbing her ankles to go further with Kakashi's support.

"I remember doing this for the ANBU training you gave me." Kakashi mused with a smirk as she stood up again and put her hands on his shoulders, as he didn't let go.

"Good, I'm glad you remember." She said, breaking his hold and grabbing his hands as she put her feet in front of his and stretched back, pushing her butt out and falling forwards to stretch out her shoulders as well.

"I never did get the splits though." He said with a slight chuckle as she stood up again with a fond smile.

"Yeah, the only part of my training you failed." She said, turning in his arms again as he hooked his under hers and she dropped into a split carefully. She bent forwards and he pushed gently on her shoulders to stretch properly.

"Have you always kept this routine?" He asked switching his place around to push her back the other way and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"You were never this talkative when I was training you." She said as she bent her legs into jazz split to sit on her knees.

"That was different." He said with a blush as she put her hand on the floor behind her and arched her back, the other hand pointing up to the ceiling.

"How so?" She asked as he fixed her alignments and pushed her hips forwards more by the small of her back.

"The roles were reversed." He said as she swapped hands and he fixed her alignment again.

"Shouldn't make a difference." She said as she put one foot on the ground and lunged forwards and Kakashi stepped back to watch her knee didn't go over her toe.

"Are you kidding, it makes a huge difference." He said as she swapped sides then lay on her back with her legs vertical. Kakashi swallowed and grabbed her feet and pushed them over towards her head.

"How so?" She asked as he returned them again and split them apart and pushed as she flinched slightly.

"Do I really have to explain?" He asked with almost desperation as he looked at the position they were in and Sonea smirked.

"And you think it wasn't torturous for me when I was training you?" She asked as she put her feet flat on the floor with her legs bent as Kakashi knelt down by them.

"Except you didn't have or give permission to touch." He said as she placed her foot on his shoulder and he leaned over her, stretching out her tendon. She straightened her leg against his chest as he took her ankle and pushed her leg straight, still leaning down at her.

"Hm true but it's called self control." She said with a smirk as they swapped legs.

"I don't know how you did it." He said with sarcasm as he took her hands and pulled the both of them to stand but held their hands still. She stepped closer to him and put her head next to his ear.

"I did 'slip up' now and again." She said in a husky whisper and pulled back with a grin and noticed the lustful look in his eyes before slapping his cheek lightly and pulling him after her. "Come on, let's get breakfast before we start moving again."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Hey guys I got my review! Thank you so much for the inspiring review by TheLadyAssassin4678 and don't worry, I will never drop this story as it's nearing it's finale! Hope you enjoy these two chapters I promised to post and remember R&R!

Chapter eleven

They team had walked since it was too much strain on Sonea still to run full speed for a long period of time without not being able to move the next day. She apologised every time they had to stop as she felt like a burden to herself and the mission so far once they got back on track. Travelling through Hi no Kuni was quick then up into Yu no Kuni was where the problems began.

Sonea still didn't have complete control over her chakra and she wasn't able to extinguish it yet unless she wanted to cause damage to her weakened state. None of them thought they would run into any Kumo nin where they were and sense them at the same time, unfortunately fate was and always had been a bitch to Sonea Storm Shadow.

Three Kumo nin versus the three of them. The trio decided to split off into different directions with their opponents. Sonea unsealed her katanas on her left hip and channelled wind release into them as her opponent used lightning natured attacks and high classed ones at that which made her realise that this man was the leader of the group.

The crackling of lightning and chakra in the air was unnerving as the storm above began to rage from the ninja. The man Sonea was facing had white hair and was an expert with his sword as he blocked her double attacks. His skin was tanned brown and wore the standard Kumo uniform.

She deflected his kekkei genkai of 'gale release; lazer circus' with the a storm release jutsu similar to it since they are both natures of water and lightning but the storm release is stronger than the gale release with it's added element of wind and Sonea's jutsu hit him and knocked him away.

When Sonea's opponent returned to her, she noticed the black lightning tattoo on his right arm and knew she was in shit and began to fight him desperately, sword for sword, kick for kick and ninjutsu for ninjutsu as the rain began to pour from the clashing and similar jutsu's. He was beginning to use the black lightning and she had to push my wind release into her storm release jutsus, the man wanted to end the battle quickly.

They all regrouped with their teammates and they all had wounds as the Kumo nin began to retreat and they decided to let them go leaving the team a little confused then the storm rumbled overhead and Sonea could swear she saw a smirk on one of their faces. An unexpected attack happened from the clouds above and Sonea was unable to use her storm release; storm control jutsu in time before it hit Kakashi square on his abdomen and chest and he collapsed against a tree he was forced against by the jutsu. Sonea and Tenzo blanked as they saw their teammate against a cracked tree, red mixing with the black of charred skin, bones and clothes as Kakashi squirmed with gasps of air, eyes wide and scared. Their eyes met for a brief second and she snapped out of it and headed over to him, falling to the ground next to him as he shakily grasped for her and she took his cold hand as he struggled to breath, the scent of blood so heavy it felt like it was suffocating Sonea as her other hand hovered over the wound, unsure what to do. Tears were blurring his vision as his hand was becoming looser by the millisecond around hers and she made a rash decision as she switched to ANBU mode. She ran a hand quickly through his hair as he looked up at her with fear in his falling eyes and she sighed while cried.

"You'll be fine Kakashi, I promise I'm going to save you but I need you to stay with me as best as you can." She said as her hand fell from his hair and all but ripped his mask away and her now lengthened fangs sunk into his neck as she pumped chakra into his body, leaving behind a pentagram seal while she licked the wound closed. She manipulated the chakra accordingly but there was too much damage and the high loss of blood that she had no other choice and made a rash decision that would save his life; she bit into her arm by the junction of her right elbow as she still concentrated on the healing and sucked some of her own blood into her mouth and attached her lips to his cold ones, forcing the blood into his mouth as he tried to get rid of the foreign intrusion but then as his air supply ran low, he had no choice but to swallow the iron substance. She repeated the process so many times she lost count but eventually her blood began reacting in his body as he was gasping harshly for air now, trying to stay alive as her hands glowed with a mixture of green and purple around the wound.

She worked soundlessly as the rain pelted down on them as the chakra glowed and the wound began healing, his vitals returning back to normal even if they were weaker than before but he was alive and stable. His body took over the healing and Kakashi fell asleep and Sonea finally felt the effects of what she did as she fell from her knees onto her butt and leaned back against her hands, letting the rain wash over her to calm down as she breathed harshly.

She had used a massive amount of chakra as well as a little light headed from the blood loss but happy and sad at the same time. Kakashi was alive but the stupid blood bond had now been completed as she fought off her natural instinct, Kakashi was in no fit state to consummate their bond and neither was Sonea at that moment.

"Sonea?" Tenzo looked down at her with sadness, worry and confusion.

"He will be fine now but very sore for the time being." She responded eerily calm as she licked her bite mark on her arm to heal it. She ripped her jeans she was wearing away from her right thigh as she unsealed a medical kit from a seal she had placed there before they left on their trip. She opened it up and cut away Kakashi's top as Tenzo supported the figure to lean away from the tree and block them from the rain. Sonea placed a huge piece of gauze over the wound and began to wrap multiple bandages around him. When she was finished with the big one, she moved to the deep one on his thigh and cut off his pant's leg and bandaged that up. Sonea stood up and held her hands, palm up to the sky and concentrated what chakra she had left into the storm.

"Storm release; storm control jutsu." Sonea said and the rain ended and began to move on and fell back onto her knees next to Kakashi's sleeping form leaning against Tenzo for support. She pulled off her coat restlessly and put it on Kakashi since it was a little big for her anyway and Tenzo helped to gently shrug it onto him before she stood up with a slight stumble and examined the surroundings.

"Tenzo, I'm going to bandage you and Kakashi together and you two will get onto my wolf forms back and we will head for the nearest town and rest there." Sonea instructed calmly as she sat Tenzo down behind Kakashi and began wrapping their torsos together and the helped Tenzo to stand up before transforming and lying down so Tenzo could manoeuvre himself and Kakashi onto her back with little problems. Sonea began running as smoothly as she could to the nearest town or hot spring resort so she can keep an eye on Kakashi's condition.

The clerk at the resort looked at them funny before reluctantly giving them the place to stay. They placed Kakashi's unusually cold body into one bed and Tenzo moved into the next room to rest as he was running low with slight chakra exhaustion. Sonea was exhausted but she knew she had to ignore it if she wanted Kakashi to survive. She began healing again with a bit more concentration now that his life wasn't in imminent danger and she closed her eyes in concentration as she listened and felt her blood pulsing through his veins. She passed out with her head on his bed next to him when her exhaustion took her.

Her eyes snapped open a little while later to the sound of an erratic heartbeat and harsh breathing as Kakashi squirmed in a cold sweat, his face scrunched up in pain as he gripped the sheets. Sonea stood up and knelt on the bed next to him as she focused her hands over his chest and the wound and began sorting out his heartbeat and breathing with therapeutic and calm healing chakra and his body relaxed and he un gripped the sheets as he fell back into an easy and restful deep sleep. Sonea rubbed tiredly at her eyes as she was also still struggling with her chakra and healing took a lot of concentration for her already. She touched his pulse and found cold skin there with a faint pulse but it was strong enough considering the amount of blood he did loose and as she moved her hand away, his tried to follow as his body began to shake with the cold.

Sonea regarded him and saw how pale and slightly blue he seemed as she lay down next to him and he instantly curled into her warmth and stopped shivering with almost a hum on relief. Sonea narrowed her eyes in guilt as she looked away from him, how could she have been so reckless and allowed this to happen even if it did save his life.

She came back to her thoughts when he rolled onto his stomach, half on her and placed his head at the crook of her neck and nuzzled a little further, tightening his arm a little across her abdomen and she sighed with a sad smile as she wrapped her arm around him and stroked through his hair while she rested the other on his back and sent a steady flow of chakra through into him. The soothing feel of holding him and being close to him lulled her into sleep with the steady flow of chakra continuing as she closed her heavy lids and fell into a much needed sleep with Kakashi at her side.

Tenzo had woken up the next morning with a bit of stiffness from the dangerously low level his chakra was at the end of the battle. He was very confused still at what Sonea did the day before that had saved his senpai and he was truly grateful that she had saved one of the few precious people to him. He went to the kitchen and fixed some food quickly for himself and Sonea and he carried it to the other room and he stopped at the door at the sweet moment in front of him. Kakashi was half draped across Sonea who had him securely in her arms as they slept and he could feel the slight hum of chakra in the air and saw it was Sonea's and he wondered how she could still do it while sleeping so heavily. He placed the food on the bedside table and he moved towards Sonea and gripped her shoulders and gently shook her awake, she rubbed her eyes and unwrapped Kakashi from her carefully and tucked the warm spot of the blanket around Kakashi and dared to leave him for a little while. She picked up the food and gestured for Tenzo to follow they sat at the table and Sonea began to eat hungrily.

"How is senpai?" Tenzo asked carefully as he watched her finish her toast in two bites.

"He is okay even though I nearly lost him a few times last night but I have no doubt he will make a full recovery now." Sonea responded, patting her stomach happily.

"And how are you feeling?" He asked and she looked at him with a bit of confusion before trying to stretch and winced painfully at her over used muscles and chakra system and a bit hungry for blood.

"A bit painful but nothing compared to what Kakashi is going to feel when he wakes up…" Sonea said before her gaze switched back to the bedroom door with worry in her eyes.

"Sonea… What exactly did you do last night?" Tenzo asked her carefully as he gaze landed back on him with guilt.

"You've probably already figured out already that the clan I come from are very much like vampires, am I right?" She asked Tenzo carefully and he nodded. "Blood is where our power comes from as a clan and extremely sacred… By doing what I did last night, I have created something called a blood bond between us and it now binds us together by the exchange of blood… With my blood in his system, I could focus mine and his power more accurately to heal and save him." Sonea said with a sigh as she crossed her arms and looked outside the window.

"What do you mean by 'bind' you together and 'exchange', you only gave him your blood?" Tenzo asked curiously.

"The chunin exams… I was… 'hurt' and he came to visit, it began there. This bond is a bond of love and now I've selfishly tied him to me as well as having my first vision come true… Everything is just so messed up right now." Sonea said, putting her face in her hands with a slight groan.

"I don't see anything wrong with that." Tenzo said and her red eyes snapped up to meet his black ones in confusion but also in thanks. "You two have been inseparable the entire trip and the way you look at each other makes me think that you are meant for each other, and I only hope to find someone like that in my life time so consider yourself lucky for once, you have someone who would give their life fore you like yesterday." He said softly as she let out a broken sob and smiled at him as tears of gratitude spilled over her eyes.

"So you don't think he will mind?" She asked, wiping away the tears and looked at him again with hope shining in her red orbs.

"No, I actually think he will be a lot happier with a more permanent bond, stronger than marriage itself, he has been a lonely and lost soul since the Yondaime died but I've seen a spark of life return to those once cold eyes. Don't focus on the path, you have both become stronger and better people because of it but you are here together now so savour what you have." Tenzo said with a carefree wave and a grin. Sonea smiled and stood up and rushed around the table and gave him a big hug before releasing him and ruffling his hair roughly and heading back to Kakashi's room.

She closed the door behind her with a small smile as her gaze landed on the bed and Kakashi who was shivering slightly. She headed over and got under the covers as he moved to her side instantly and stop shivering and Sonea kept Kakashi warm and she allowed herself a moment of weakness and cried silently and holding onto the person she nearly lost like her last life depended on it. Tenzo came to visit her now and again as she explained how cold he got and quickly from the loss of blood and didn't want to leave him for too long in case he got a blood clot and Tenzo just nodded and accepted it and brought her coffee and food now and again.

The first thing Kakashi felt when he gained conscience was burning pain in his abdomen and he recalled what happened to put him into this position.

'Death shouldn't feel this painful.' He thought to himself with a slight groan. He tried to remember what happened after the attack but he couldn't remember clearly.

'_You'll be fine Kakashi, I promise I'm going to save you but I need you to stay with me as best as you can.' _Was that Sonea's voice? He wondered then he felt the world under him shift slightly and then warmth as the pain faded a bit. He swallowed and inwardly grimaced at the taste.

'Blood?' He wondered at the familiar taste with confusion but then just shrugged off and sighed a little and felt he was really comfortable and calm? He hadn't ever felt this calm or such a feeling of being complete almost, he could die right now and be happy, why is this? He pushed more of himself closer to the warm body next to him and hummed with content as the arms around him squirmed and tightened gently and felt the body shake slightly. It was odd as he carefully pried his eyelids open to see a familiar neck and skin, the creamy pale of Sonea's as he relished in her salty and irony scent and he blinked in confusion… As he breathed her scent in it almost felt like his chest filled in a hole he never knew was there and so calming it was unbelievable and slightly unnerving to be so calm when he had trained nearly his entire life to never feel this relaxed. He felt so complete just then. The body shook once again and something cold and wet hit his bare shoulder then more tremors from the body and he realised with a panic that Sonea was crying and she stilled at his restless movement. He craned his neck upwards slightly and saw his angels face contorted in pain as her tears fell freely from her red eyes.

"Sonea… Why are you crying?" He croaked out while he brought his arm up painfully to wipe away the tears and Sonea stiffened and looked down with shock and disbelief.

"Kashi?" She asked in a slightly rough voice from crying and her throat constricting with the soundless cries. She took his wrist gently and laid it on her stomach and told him with her eyes not to move. "Go back to sleep, you need to recover." She said, running her hand across his eyes to close them and pushed his head back onto her shoulder and kept her hand there as she tried not to make her breathing normal so he didn't worry but one sob managed to wrack her lungs and he instantly looked up at her again.

"Don't cry… Why are you crying… I am alive right?" He asked, sliding his arm across her torso and rubbed the sides of her ribs down to her hip with forced but comforting movements.

"It's just one of my rare moments of weakness and yes you are alive now, get some more rest." She smiled down at him and he snuggled back into her as she kept her breathing calm again and Kakashi leaned into the hand running through his hair. "I'll need to change your bandages when you wake up again but later okay?" She asked in a more calm and soothing voice and Kakashi nodded his head.

"What happened, I remember jumping in front of something then it gets all fuzzy." He said against her neck and he could feel her smile sadly.

"You pushed me out of the way of an attack and it landed a fatal hit on your chest… I did what I had to, to save you." She said with remorse as she stared down with furrowed brows of regret. "It was so selfish of me." She whispered out as she shut her eyes tight to hold back her tears again.

"How are you selfish if you saved my life?" Kakashi asked and she stiffened up.

"The blood bond… It was the only way to save you." She whispered out in pain before squirming to get away but Kakashi held her down and with painful effort, managed to partially pin her down as he leaned up on his arms to look back down at her but she continued to struggle against him weakly.

"Listen to me." He commanded in a rough and horse voice and she ended her struggling and reluctantly looked up at him with guilt written all over her face, especially the now dulled red eyes that he loved so much, as much as her steely light blue they use to be. "I don't mind, it was bound to happen sooner or later and now that I'm alive, I'm glad it was sooner even though it didn't turn out the way you probably wanted such a private matter to happen but now it's over and done with and I don't regret it and you shouldn't either with the little time we have left together. So leave your fears behind and kiss me, dammit." He said, putting his one hand behind her head and tilting it up as he connected his lips to hers and she responded as she closed her eyes and was smiling slightly into the kiss with tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes.

He licked the line of her lips, asking for permission but she smiled and closed them tighter and he growled. He nibbled on her bottom lip and then pinched her lip hard between his teeth and she gasped and he slid his tongue in and licked the blood on her lip from the bite and she pressed closer to him as he let himself fall on top of her, not being able to hold himself up and longer. He slid his tongue along side hers and she wrapped hers around his tongue and tilted her head to deepen the kiss and he growled with pleasure. Kakashi watched through hooded eyes, every emotion passing over her face, like a fog had cleared and he could tell exactly what she was thinking and feeling even with her eyes closed.

The slight look of fear made her break the kiss by tilting her forehead forwards as it touched his and she was breathing heavily, eyes still closed as he watched her, also slightly out of breath… It was so amazing to kiss her properly and he fought off his new addiction to kiss her again and held it in line as he could see the confusion on her face as she bit her still bleeding bottom lip. He ran his hand through her hair as his other hand sat comfortably on the small of her back as he rubbed it with his thumb.

His breath hitched painfully in his chest as a look of resolve crossed her face and she opened her eyes. They were so red, almost the colour of maroon, it matched the word 'love' so badly that it made him fall for her harder some how and he smiled a little and she smiled back breath takingly and crookedly that made his breath hitch again at how beautiful she was. He leaned his head down and put his nose next to hers and was just content to stay right where he was and watch the clear emotions running across her now and so fascinating to him, almost like he couldn't see it before.

"You're so perfect." She whispered out as one hand from his hair ran next his sharingan eye and touched the end of the scar before reaching his jaw and following it around.

"I could say the same about you." He whispered right back, playing with her hair. She closed her eyes and he saw uncertainty.

"I wouldn't call myself that, I have so many flaws." She said and Kakashi smiled and pecked her lips.

"Just shut up and take the compliment." He said and she smiled and he smiled with her before finding himself on his back and Sonea standing up looking calm and content while fixing her hair.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kakashi asked with slight desperation.

"First of all, we're on a mission and I don't want our first time to be while on a mission, even if it is my own mission. Secondly, you nearly died yesterday so no moving around for you for a while and thirdly I won't let instinct rule my life. I'll be back with some painkillers, water and new bandages… Oh, and maybe a sponge bath." She said over her shoulder with an evil smirk and exited the room with a lustful blush still on her face as well as his


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

Kakashi lay on his back, staring at the ceiling with one arm carefully and painfully draped across his forehead as his mind and emotions raced faster than ever before. He finally had her, the girl he could never wrap his emotions around until she kissed him on his forehead when he was thirteen when he realised he liked her. Powerful, respectable, loyal as well as beautiful both inside and out were a few words he would use to describe her, she always made him forget his troubles if only for a little while and never pushed her own troubles onto him no matter how heavy a burden they were to carry.

His only regret was having to watch her go through so much pain with her seal now and that he didn't have her earlier so he had more time with her but they could spend the time she had left happy and together if only for a little while.

He can remember every detail of her. How her body shape was so much different from all the other kunoichi in Konoha or anywhere he's been, she was curvy yet plush looking, muscles showing through when she used them. Her movements so much like a dance that fighting no matter how much he watched her, he couldn't move like water but he moved like a cat chasing its prey. How she had blonde hair that reflected the sunlight in different shades all the way down to the small of her back and those blue, almost steely grey eyes changed with her moods.

He silently chuckled at the reaction he had when he was five, when he first saw her demon state and he fainted for the first and only time in his life saving him and Minato from a pot of boiling tea. Her demon mode, as she was now stuck in, just made him fall for her further, an angel turned demon but still just like her normal blonde self. Her personality shone so bright you didn't notice the external changes. The pitch-black hair that shimmered like a shadow and those mischievous red eyes that personified the love he felt for her.

So much of his life had revolved around her constant presence and he wondered if he was always this tied to her and if she felt the same way. She was the one who came after him after his mothers death and stayed with him and made his first mask for him, she was the one who found and cared for him when his father committed seppuku, she was the one who caught him when he failed his first jonin mission and lost Obito and she was there when he lost Rin too. She trained him for ANBU and went on his first mission with him and helped him emotionally after making that first kill as a heartless shadow… And when she seemed to need him more than he needed her when his sensei died, he failed and she shattered because of his selfish decision and expected her to pick up the pieces again when she couldn't. He abandoned her when she needed him when she lost her ties to emotion, abandoned his sensei's son twice and Sonea had let it rip when she had had enough of his selfish bullshit when he said he would die trying to kill Orochimaru when he lost the one he was trying to protect anyway. He felt guilt well up in his chest and his smile fade.

He felt pathetic next to her. A mere twenty-six years had broken him so far when she had faced six hundred years in a similar situation if not worse than his life ten times over, watching how your mistakes affected the world in the worst possible ways. What had he done? Sonea just needed him to meet her half way but didn't, he took everything she gave him but never gave it back. He was turning out like Sasuke who never noticed what he had and left it behind easily for power and left the people behind him to pick up the pieces.

He needed to fix it somehow and now he feels like all he's doing is hurting her… She was trying to sever her bonds so when she did die it hurt her and everyone else less but all he though of was his selfish desires and pushed his way in…

Sonea felt so elated and smiled like an idiot thinking of how she wanted to cherish the one relationship she was going to have for as long as fate gave her. The feel of strong muscles around her made her feel like the world could pass by without her for all she cared as long as her silver-haired love of her existence was there with her.

She began to wonder how her current existence wrapped around the baby before he was even born and how she gave his mom some time with him and even allowed a contract between one of her wolves with his dad. The way he babbled at her the first time he saw her or when she fell asleep on the couch with him in her arms had always made her feel relaxed. She could fear nothing when he stood with her and she defended him from some of the harsher realities of life the best she could as his life began like hers did.

She let her smile drop as she thought about how she could have saved Minato and Kushina if she hadn't been so absorbed into her past mistakes instead of just trying straight out to correct them. She had failed the most important person in her current existence and she hated herself and still hates herself to this day. She didn't deserve such a beautiful creature as Kakashi to be entrusted to her, to be allowed to love something that could break so easily into her damaging life. He would have been better off with that Hanare girl from a year ago and been happy for him, instead she watched and tried to kill her while she was with Kakashi but couldn't take the one piece of happiness away from him.

"How's senpai?" Tenzo asked and Sonea jumped and turned around with a hand to her chest from digging in her bag on the kitchen table.

"He's recovering well and quickly, sorry I didn't expect for you to sneak up on me like that." Sonea apologised with a sheepish smile as she leaned back against the table.

"You must have been really deep in thought since I made so much noise coming in carrying these damn bags." He said, dropping the grocery bags on the table and starting to pack them away.

"Yeah, thanks for everything you've done Tenzo, especially cooking since Kakashi and I can't cook for our lives." Sonea said with a smile as she dug back into her bag for painkillers, bandages and her first aid kit.

"So, anything interesting happen while I was gone?" He asked with a raised eyebrow as he put the kettle on and leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms and Sonea blushed, looked down and grinned like an idiot.

"You were right about him accepting it so easily and before you carry on, nothing else happened but a kiss, I walked out to get painkillers, water and some things to clean his wounds." She said, filling a bowl up, pouring some antiseptic fluid into the warm water, a blush still heavy on her face.

"Can I go in and see him?" Tenzo asked and Sonea smiled as she picked up the bucket with a towel and cloth with everything else with Tenzo's help as they headed back to Kakashi's room.

A few hours later, Sonea sat on the toilet seat, scrubbing out the blood on the washcloth while Tenzo and Kakashi talked in the room next doors and she smiled to herself. She had to fetch him a hot water bottle earlier and he was extremely tired after their heated kiss but he was alive and awake now. The painkillers were working and her blood and chakra in his system is healing him nicely to leave no scar at all which was good because Sonea never wanted to think of the whole incident ever again.

"I'm going to get some rest now Sonea, I'll leave senpai in your capable hands." He said, poking his head around the doorway.

"Sure, rest well, I want to carry on with your training tomorrow so rest up and thanks for your help." Sonea said, waving him off and hanging the towel and cloth up. She jumped into the shower quickly and got cleaned up before dressing in an old t-shirt and shorts and heading back to the bed with Kakashi sleeping in it and shivering slightly. Sonea quickly found the cool water bottle and put it aside before getting under the covers where Kakashi moved to her side instantly and she snuggled down into a more comfortable position with him.

"You're so warm." Kakashi mumbled in sleepy bliss and Sonea smiled and ran her hand through his silver hair and stopped at the nape to massage it absentmindedly.

"Well surprisingly enough, you're normally warmer than I am but the change in temperature is nice, kind of like balancing us out a little." She said, resting her cheek against his forehead and closing her eyes.

"I like it when I'm warmer… it makes me feel like I can protect you." He said with a yawn and she felt his breathing change telling her he had fallen asleep and she smiled, pecked his forehead and also fell asleep.

"Aw come on Tenzo, you can attack a girl right?" Sonea taunted him in a fighting stance in the small forest behind the hot spring they had actually booked into a few days later, breathing heavily from exertion and sweat pouring off of their bodies from the earlier sparring.

"What do you think I've been doing?" Tenzo asked with annoyance as Sonea ducked from a kick and tried to sweep his legs out from under him but he flipped back in time and landed with his hands on the ground. Sonea flipped back multiple times to dodge his shoots of wood from the ground and used storm release enhanced kunai to break the last one before shimmering away into a tree and watching him.

"It feels like you've been going easy on me." Sonea said before moving through the trees again so he couldn't pin point her.

"I have, you're still recovering." Tenzo said, looking around and staying on guard for her attack.

"Don't hold back." Sonea snapped with an order and Tenzo grabbed her in a full nelson from behind, using a wood clone that appeared out of the tree she was sitting in. He hopped up with a smirk of satisfaction and stood there, kunai to her throat.

"And I can still beat you." He said with a smirk and Sonea growled. Her red eyes flickered to the rippling sharingan and she broke the wood clone with her chain tails and grabbed his kunai with another one.

"Like I said, don't hold back, the Jyuubi doesn't like being underestimated." She said, taking a swing at him but he used the substitution jutsu and disappeared. She growled as she looked around to find Tenzo again as well as reigning in her power that slipped from her control slightly as the seal burned but bearable. She located him and began chasing him through the trees, throwing his kunai at him that he dodged where she wanted him to as she tackled him in mid flight and pinned him to the ground. "I know you're the real one and there's no way in hell you can get out of this… Surrender?" She asked, holding out her hand. Tenzo pouted in defeat and nodded as Sonea dropped Jyuubi chakra mode and helped him up.

She turned and took a step when there was a stabbing pain in her right knee on the outside of it and she fell down onto her left knee and sighed at the damage as Tenzo kneeled down next to her, assessing the kunai through the joint.

"Well… That's going to put a damper on training for a few days." She said as she pulled the kunai out and applied pressure to the wound while she focused on healing it with her other hand.

"How the hell did that happen?" Tenzo wondered and Sonea shrugged, seemingly not phased by the whole situation.

"Who knows but it just means Jyuubi chakra mode is getting more dangerous to handle if I don't notice wounds… I could cause worse damage if I don't realise I have a wound. I'll have to work on that but for now I can't walk." Sonea said, smiling sweetly up at Tenzo. Tenzo pouted with some annoyance then sighed as he picked her up into bridal style and headed back to their rooms.

He threw her gently onto the couch with a giggle from her and went into the kitchen to find her first aid kit while she sat there and focused on her healing the joint so she could walk a little bit for now.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked, hanging on the doorway of his room, looking a bit sick and pale from the exertion. Sonea jumped up quickly without thinking and by the time she was nearly to him, stumbled with the pain and Kakashi caught her fall but ended up both falling on the floor. Sonea was laughing while Kakashi groaned slightly in pain and annoyance as Sonea lay on top of him.

"It was a training accident and you really shouldn't be out of bed but at least your slight fever is bringing your temperature back up." Sonea said with a giggle as she supported most of her own weight on her arms over him.

"I can't leave you two alone for five seconds can I?" Tenzo asked rhetorically from the kitchen door, leaning against it, swinging the first aid kit on his fingers.

"I guess you can't." Kakashi said, turning his head to face Tenzo with an eye smile. Sonea flipped off of him and sat down on the ground, helping Kakashi to sit up a little and lean him up against the doorframe while Tenzo came over with the first aid kit. Tenzo sat on his haunches while Sonea cleaned her wound and finished healing the flesh wound but the bones would take a day or two to fix up properly as they watched her heal herself. Tenzo pulled her to stand up and she hobbled slightly but it was okay and they slung Kakashi between them carefully and took him back to bed and tucked him back in.

"Stay put… Both of you, I'll make us some soup." Tenzo said, threatening Sonea not to stand up from the bed and heading out, closing the door behind him.

"He'd be a great genin teacher." Sonea mused out loud as she leaned back in the bed next to Kakashi.

"Why haven't you ever taken a genin team, I know both Fire and Light-sensei had teams having my Father and Kushina on them." Kakashi asked and noticed by the slightly flinch of her eyes that it was a touchy subject.

"I couldn't put myself through that pain… My circle has only been ageless for the most of maybe a hundred years and they still don't see the pain of watching life pass by… They have always had a choice to become ageless and I was never given the choice and I never wanted this. A genin team would just give me a reason to be connected to the outside world further it was bad enough I did it with your family, Minato and Kushina and look at where it got me. If I had a genin team, I would get to know their family, their spouse, their children, their children's children and so the chain of bonds increase. I want very little to do with people's personal life so I don't interfere with their path or the future if I wasn't here which I shouldn't be." Sonea explained, staring up at the ceiling with her hands linked behind her head and ankles crossed. Kakashi saw pain in her eyes and expression and decided to drop the topic for now.

"So what would have you done if you never had the Jyuubi sealed into you?" Kakashi asked with curiosity as he turned onto his side carefully to watch her.

"If I never met Rikudo Sennin-sensei I would have probably been a whore on the street but if I did meet him and the sealing went perfectly as planned, I probably would have found Ryuu again, maybe had a family and had my own apprentices to contain the Jyuubi in the next line… Die an old woman with my husband, surrounded by my family and warmth. Maybe be reincarnated." She said the last piece with dry sarcasm and a slight humoured laugh. Kakashi could see he shouldn't push the topic further and Tenzo saved him from finding another conversation by bringing in some miso soup, his favourite as they ate together.

Sonea chilled with Kakashi in bed for a week before her leg stopped hurting and she could walk again and trained with Tenzo everyday who was getting better with his wood release and timing with it. They both helped Kakashi with some exercise and Sonea would prod his stomach muscles with chakra to make sure they were repairing and working properly. Kakashi had been recovering for a month already and moving around in small bits before his nearly non existent muscles gave away and Tenzo or Sonea ended up carrying him back to bed which he wasn't happy with since they always carried him bridal style just to punish him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sonea scolded Kakashi in the corridors of the Hot spring with Tenzo just behind her.

"To the hot spring, it's good for recovery." He said with a cheeky eye smile. "Did you know this place has mixed bathing?" Kakashi asked as he continued on towards them and slung his arm across Sonea's shoulders with a raised eyebrow and Sonea blushed and looked away while Tenzo mysteriously disappeared and she mentally cursed him. "You look like you could use a bath, why don't you come along?" He asked and Sonea could swear she could see a giant smirk under his mask and she never backed out of challenges.

"Fine then, I will… Lead the way." She said with determination then cursed herself for her competitiveness as she followed Kakashi behind, cheeks getting redder by the second and right eye twitching with annoyance. They got to the changing room where Sonea chose a place right in the corner of the room and Kakashi chuckled as he chose another one away from her as they got undressed and wrapped a towel around themselves. Sonea clutched onto her towel, willing her full on blush to die down as she felt an arm wrap around her and turn her around gently and she looked away from Kakashi's amused smiling face with a pout. She tried really hard not to star at his pale and perfect chest but her eyes just couldn't stay away.

He put his finger under her chin and raised her head so she looked at him and she tried to look away as her blush began down her neck but her eyes kept straying back to his eyes and his dimpled smile which made her heart melt right there.

"Do you like that colour?" Sonea blurted out in a low tone seeing a dark blue cloth on top of his hair and her blush deepened but she tried her best to hold his gaze and he just smiled gently.

"What colour do you mean?" He asked, resting his hands on her hips.

"The blue of your face cloth." She whispered out and he just silently laughed.

"I never really thought of it before but I guess I do since I wear a lot of it. And what is your favourite colour?" He asked back just to calm her down a little.

"I um… I guess I like black and dark purple and red but not pink… but I also like that dark blue because it um… it looks good… on you, I mean…" She stopped and looked away as her face felt like it was on fire from embarrassment.

"I don't think I have ever heard you stutter like that before." He said with a silent chuckle.

"Yeah, well, it's currently your fault." She muttered, still looking away.

"You're so cute." He chuckled and took her hand gently to lead her to the bathing area to relax for the afternoon and he made sure to keep a comfortable distance if the little time in the changing room made her react that way.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: YAY happy V-day everyone. Here's the next two chapters since I'm in a good mood and I hope you enjoy them.

Chapter Thirteen

Sonea was relaxing in the hot spring a few days later after working with Tenzo the whole day and helping Kakashi with some exercises so he could build his muscles up again. She had her eyes closed and was smiling as she watched Jiraiya and Naruto through Bolt who had been following them since they left after the last time she left the two alone. It brought a sour taste to her mouth when she thought about it and seeing Itachi again had confused her, she shouldn't have hesitated to attack when he was hurting Sasuke and especially when he was after Naruto and the Kyuubi. Sure, he was her friend and his superior but that was a different Itachi, that Itachi died the day he destroyed his clan. Sonea was happy that the Uchiha's no longer existed but it was sad that people had to die.

Something seemed wrong, almost missing as Naruto tried to control the power of the Kyuubi, it shouldn't be that hard unless she was different or forgot what it was that would give him the power over the Kyuubi like she had over the Jyuubi. She sighed and opened her eyes again and relaxed further into the hot water soothing away her tension from the past eight, nearly nine months since they left Konoha, she missed the peaceful feeling the village had to it and the smells of the food stores, restaurant but most of all, the forest. Kakashi's scent reminded her of the forest with a hint of minty freshness to it and it made her smile.

Her mind began to wonder about all of the people she knows back at Konoha. She had gotten along with the rookie eight and Guy's team, especially the kunoichi's who read up about her when they met her, she had gotten closer to Sakura and her and Star got along well. Ino was a bit different, completely boy crazy like Sakura was when she first saw her but she was strong in her own way. Hinata was gentle and kind but loyal and strong for her friends and village and her blood boiled at how her father had treated her, Sonea knew more about her when she was looking after Naruto as Raven and she saw her following him and secretly giving him her support which Sonea secretly thanked her for. Tenten was an outrageous tomboy and a strong long-ranged fighter for her short-ranged team, hell, Sonea even lost at kenjutsu against her and that was saying something, and she would become an amazing weapons specialist.

The boy's of the rookie eight and Guy's team were a bit weary of her though. Lee had been himself and they had good taijutsu battles, pushing her to demon mode and once, Jyuubi mode to fend off the bone shattering kicks and punches. Neji seemed more emo than Sasuke around her but she understood that he could see something about Sonea that the others couldn't. She played shogi with Shikamaru a few times and each time ended in a draw and he had commented at how risky those moves were but complimented her personality perfectly and they got to know each other a lot through the strategic game. Choji is soft hearted but loyal like Hinata and sometimes a little to kind hearted but her view changed when she saw how badly that sound ninja was while they tried to retrieve Sasuke. Kiba and Akamaru stayed far away from her due to the Jyuubi, which was sad because Sonea loved animals and would love to get to know the both of them with the time she has left. She didn't really talk to Shino either but she wasn't fond of bugs and decided it was safer to keep a distance before she absent-minded killed one of his bugs.

Sonea knew everything about Naruto. The blonde hair and blue eyes of his father but the facial features and personality of his mother. He may look like an idiot sometimes but he was a lot more clever than people saw and Shikamaru was the only one who saw this side of him for who he was, he was to perceptive for his own good. Naruto only charges in head first because he knows his team will back him up and most of the time they needed a distraction anyway and who could miss a yelling blonde wearing bright orange clothing and the blue ball of his Rasengan. The enemy wouldn't take him serious until they were taking their last breaths by the hands of the world's number one knuckle-headed ninja, which was really ironic. Yes, Naruto portrayed the exact opposite of who he really was, he was smart and not an idiot, his clothes and hair screamed for attention for as loud as he did but he only wanted to be seen and not just looked at for the Kyuubi inside of him. And it seemed like he wore his heart on his sleeve but he was extremely guarded all of the time so that he didn't seem weak to the people who would hurt him and take advantage of that. He wasn't that fragile little boy she first saw eleven years ago when she first began to protect, he was now nearly a man and was progressing at an impressive speed, reminding Sonea of herself during her training under the Rikudo Sennin. He will far surpass maybe even Sonea herself if he ever manages to control the Kyuubi.

Sonea slid out of the water and placed her blue yukata on and returned to where they were staying, humming happily. Kakashi and Tenzo both looked up from their books when they saw her walk in and humming happily with an unobstructed smile on her face, right now she was truly happy and they felt happier because of it.

"What has gotten you into such a good mood?" Tenzo asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking about Konoha and Naruto, that's all." She said with a wispy tone of carelessness and a wave of a lazy hand.

"Senpai, it sounds like you have competition against a blonde." Tenzo teased Kakashi and Sonea let out a carefree laugh. The two guys felt happy that Sonea seemed truly happy at that moment her laugh caught their ears, it sounded like a wind chime in a gentle breeze and small bells, similar to the ones Kakashi kept. But Tenzo knew his boundaries and had started to see Sonea like a sister, who had a sadistic streak to her and he smiled at the thought.

"Maa, Sonea-chan, you aren't going to leave me for someone younger than me are you?" Kakashi teased heartily.

"Don't call me 'chan' it makes me feel weak and no, I could never do that to my poor Kashi-chan now could I?" Sonea said in a sweet voice laced with poison. Tenzo was rolling on the floor with laughter at his nickname and Sonea was smiling evilly at them. "Besides, I already have a silver and brunette after me, why not add a blonde to the mix?" Sonea commented evilly as Tenzo stopped laughing and sat onto the couch with a straight face and cleared his throat and Kakashi was glaring at Sonea like he could magically make daggers appear.

"I'm joking, it seems like Tenzo has gotten over his little crush and don't worry, I'll always belong to you." Sonea said softly to Kakashi and left the living room to get dressed. She walked with a bounce in her step wearing her usual lycra shorts and bikini like top as she moved off to the kitchen to get a bite to eat and something to drink and leaned back against the counter, noticing the sun had already gone down in the distance. Her thoughts were back with Bolt and Naruto training with Jiraiya as she stuffed some rice balls down her throat and gulped down some water with it.

The glass of water fell from Sonea's hand, as she stood rigid with shock and fear at what she saw through Bolt. Jiraiya had pushed it to far and now Naruto was one angry level two jinchuuriki. Bolt said through his consciousness that he would reverse summon her right away but Sonea told him to wait a little as she rushed into the room she was sharing with Kakashi and he had already retired into bed for the night and threw her coat on.

"What's happened, where are you going?" Kakashi sat up in shock at what Sonea was doing.

"I'll be back soon, I have something I have to sort out." And at a silent command, she was summoned. As soon as she got there she summoned Star to take care of the wounded and headed for where Naruto and Jiraiya.

Jiraiya was in a bad way as Naruto threw him around, he had multiple burns, cuts, bruises but what caught her eye was the massive wound on his chest. Ditching her coat, she painfully pulled on the Jyuubi chakra and Naruto instantly saw her as a target and charged at her with impossible speed. She dodge the wild swing by an arm and shimmered to behind him and instantly caught him in a full nelson hold and managed to pin his tails with her own as well as his legs and stopped his body movements by wrapping her iron wings around both of them. She concentrated, once she was sure that he could not escape, on suppressing the chakra of the Kyuubi but Naruto's emotions were egging them on like the last time she tried to suppress it, the Kyuubi had his claws into Naruto to deep this time for him to let go as a match of tug of war began between Sonea and the Kyuubi.

The Kyuubi all of a sudden let go and slinked back into his cage and Sonea opened her eyes to see Star supporting Jiraiya and letting him down to the ground carefully and working on his wound. Naruto had relaxed in her arms as she placed the Jyuubi chakra away and helped Naruto down into a sitting position and moved over to Star to help with the healing on Jiraiya. Naruto began to mumble and she looked over to him and moved to him so she can begin healing him as his skin was peeled away from the Kyuubi chakra. Sonea removed the sealing tag that Jiraiya placed on his head as he woke up.

"Naruto… You don't remember anything of what just happened?" Jiraiya asked weakly and Naruto tiredly shook his head with pain.

"It's okay now Naruto, sleep and we'll talk when you wake up, okay?" Sonea said gently, pushing his soft and spiky golden locks back from his forehead gently and he smiled gently and went back to sleep while Sonea continued the healing on Naruto and Star on Jiraiya who was now unconscious.

"Has Fall and Sage returned from Suna yet?" Sonea asked with concentration.

"Fall has returned but Sage is still there." Star replied with equal concentration. Sonea summoned Fall and dismissed Star, saying that Fall would be able to handle Jiraiya better since she worked closely with Tsunade for a long time and she let the summoning go and returned home in a poof of smoke. Fall began to wrap Jiraiya up with bandages as Sonea relayed the incident to her and Bolt filled in the blanks. Bolt carried Jiraiya on his wolf form back while Sonea carried Naruto on her back as he was still slightly smaller than her to a hotel where they booked two rooms, one for Jiraiya and one for Naruto as they went to the respective rooms.

Sonea gently lay Naruto down on the double bed and removed his tattered clothes down to his green boxer shorts with ramen on them that made her smile. She got a washcloth from the bathroom and wiped him over a little from the day's training and made sure he was healed and find as she tucked him in bed and moved to the room next doors. She knocked and entered to see Fall and Bolt talking quietly while Jiraiya lay in the bed still unconscious and bandaged up as she closed the door behind her.

"How's his condition?" Sonea asked them in a low voice as she examined Jiraiya with her eyes.

"I've done what I can but there is only so much I could heal. He'll be in bed for a while so he can heal properly." Fall said with a sigh as she watched Jiraiya's breathing carefully.

"Are you able to stay here and take care of him Fall?" Sonea asked.

"I am able to, I'll just send a letter home to Sage to let him know where I've disappeared to so quickly. What about Naruto-kun?" She asked back.

"I'll have to take his training for now and Jiraiya is in no shape to protect Naruto if Akatsuki take a chance but I need to disappear back for a while, wait for my command for reverse summon again and thank you two." Sonea said with a poof of smoke back to her room she shares with Kakashi.

"Where did you go?" He asked with slight panic to his voice.

"I had something I needed to take care of and I still do. Are you able to start moving again?" Sonea asked as she sat on their bed next to him and brushed back a few silver strands.

"You're full of blood, what happened?" Kakashi asked with angry panic.

"Please, just answer me, can you start travelling again." Sonea asked in a deadly serious but eerily calm tone as she continued to run her hand through his hair.

"If I answer you will you answer me?" He asked, just as serious.

"Yes." She said calmly.

"I'll be able to travel short distances but enough to get from town to another, now answer my question." He said firmly.

"Jiraiya needed my help with Naruto's training, this is their blood but they are fine as I've left Fall and Bolt to take care of their injuries but I need to return to them. As soon as you wake up tomorrow I want you to get moving to Hi no Kuni and go to Doshu town and get a place to stay there and I'll see you now and again. I'm going to leave Storm with you guys so I can be summoned if needed and you can ask me things through Storm… Summoning jutsu." Sonea finished in a slight rush as Storm appeared and he knew with a silent chat about what was going on and he complied silently. Sonea was rushing around the room and packing her things quickly as Kakashi watched with confusion from his bed when she finally came close enough for him to grab her wrist and pull her to him to restrain her to get a proper answer.

"Sonea, what really happened?" Kakashi commanded with his arms wrapped around her to hold her down.

"Kakashi, I don't have time to…" Sonea began but Kakashi cut her off.

"Sonea explain… What really happened?" He growled into her ear with restrained anger, not loosening his grip.

"A training accident, Jiraiya has been hurt and I have decided to look after Naruto while you recover to your full strength again, I'm just really worried since Akatsuki has tried once already but didn't get what they want with Jiraiya there… I'm sorry, I'm just a bit shaken up that's all." Sonea said with a hint of remorse to her voice and began to shake with different emotions slightly and Kakashi nuzzled Sonea's shoulder for comfort. "I need to go now but I'll see you when you get to Doshu." Sonea said sadly, pulling away from his embrace to finish packing. "I'll see you soon, don't forget to tell Tenzo, see you." She said with her two-fingered salute and a sad smile as a silent command made her reappear with Fall and Bolt.

"How long do you think it'll take Jiraiya to recover?" Sonea asked again, shifting her bag on her shoulders.

"He should be able to move within one to two weeks and perfectly fine again in three… Here." Fall said, throwing some pills at Sonea who smile her thanks. She left quietly and returned to Naruto's room where she dumped down her bag at the end of the bed and took some of the new tablets Fall gave her before getting dressed and getting into bed next to Naruto and fell asleep.

Naruto woke up feeling happy, his bed was extremely comfortable and warmer than he ever remembered it being. The lump next to him was emitting more heat than he was and was soft and felt safe so he snuggled up next to it tighter as he hummed happily and tried to go back to sleep. He froze when the lump shifted and hummed and his eyes flew open as he tried to untangle himself from the sheets and run for the door, thinking it was a cruel trick that the villagers had played on him. A set of small but strong arms circled around his hips and was pushed to lie back down again as a soft cheek was placed against his own whiskered scarred cheek.

"It's okay Naruto, it's me, it's Sonea." The soft and familiar voice said to him calmly and lovingly.

"Sonea-san?" He said his voice still full of doubt and fear as he turned around to see the familiar red eyes and black hair of Sonea who smiled at him lovingly.

"Are you okay now?" She asked with the smile showing through her voice, running a hand through his hair and ruffling it slightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I'm not use to waking up with someone so close dattebayo." He said as he looked away with a flustered blush.

"Aw come on, don't tell me you're going all shy on me Naruto-chan?" She teased as she placed a finger under his chin to make him look at her and his blush deepened.

"No it's just I wasn't expecting to wake up with anyone so close to me." He mumbled and Sonea smiled and tackled him in a hug that he tried to squirm out of.

"Well get use to it because I enjoy hugging my favourite blonde." Sonea said with a smirk as she stood up and stretched

"There are only four blondes in the village." He mumbled and Sonea laughed as she turned back to face him seriously. "By the way, why are you here?" He asked with slight confusion.

"Well what do you remember from last night?" She asked carefully and he furrowed his brows as he sat up.

"Ero-Sennin and I were training then he said something about Sasuke and then,,, I felt rage, power, darkness… The Kyuubi and his laughter as his power flooded through me then blood?!" He asked, his eyes becoming wider as he began to remember. "Ero-Sennin, where is Ero-Sennin?!" He asked with panic, raising his eyes to meet Sonea's with shock and worry. He tried jumping out of bed but Sonea grabbed his shoulders quickly and pulled him into a hug and held him down in his panicked flailing.

"He's fine Naruto, I got to you just in time." Sonea said with a smile as she could feel him crying.

"I could have killed him…" He whispered out with a sob.

'But you didn't, I made it in time and stopped you… You're both okay now and I'll take you to visit Jiraiya later." Sonea said, rubbing his back soothingly.

"I could have hurt you…" He whispered again and Sonea laughed, making him pull back and look at her with confusion as she made him sit back on the bed.

"You couldn't ever hurt me, neither could the Kyuubi because I'm stronger than both of you… You see Naruto, I haven't been completely honest with you but I hope you can forgive me…" Sonea said with slight regret as she stared down into his confused blue orbs.

"You're like Gaara and I aren't you?" He asked carefully and Sonea tilted her head both ways.

"I'm a little different but I'm similar to you and Gaara.' Sonea said, hoping this went smoothly.

"So Akatsuki are after you too?" He asked and Sonea nodded.

"Yes but they don't know they are after me and I would like to keep it that way which is why I've taken so long to tell you." Sonea said. "Let me start from the very beginning. I was the student for the Rikudo Sennin and the next jinchuuriki for the Jyuubi, the beast that is made up by combining all of the bijuu. Something went wrong with the sealing and the nine bijuu were created with the Jyuubi's yang half while the yin was sealed into me using something called a Fate seal. My seal became unbalanced and I connected myself to seven people who have corrected that imbalance, unfortunately one of them had another motive and tried to use me for his own gain and began to erase some of my memories but he is dead now and his plan failed. I also come from an amazing clan that has some abilities to do with blood and when the seal and my bloodline collided I stopped aging and I have lived up to now. My seal is special in a way that it will break to people's actions and decisions according to fate itself for the Jyuubi to be resurrected. A year ago I learned about Akatsuki and my seal has begun to break and I have begun to age again as a result and my only way to make sure that the Jyuubi isn't resurrected is to protect you and the Kyuubi inside of you as I had betrayed the bijuu in my early life. If all of the bijuu are put back together into the Jyuubi, my seal will break and the world is doomed.

I didn't tell you earlier as you were still a bit young to understand but now I realised I should have told you earlier. I need you to promise to keep this quiet, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Kakashi all know about it so you can talk to them if you need to. Do you have any questions?" Sonea explained slowly and made sure he was listening through the whole explanation. Naruto was lost in his own world as he thought through all of the information he had just received. He realised that Sonea was completely different to what he originally thought.

"So… You're kind of like the mother of all bijuu in a way?" He asked with his head tilted cutely to the side.

"What makes you say that?" She asked with a grin as she sat down next to him.

"The stupid fox has referred to you as mother some times and it confused me but he refused to say anything else about it… It just seemed unbelievable that someone so respected and strong like you could be a jinchuuriki, I guess we went through different situations, that's all dattebayo." He said with a sorry tone.

"That we did, before now the only people who knew use to be the Hokage's and the previous jinchuuriki's for the Kyuubi. When I returned to the human world, I was kept a secret so I never had to face such ridicule that you have faced your entire life and I'm sorry for that and I hope that we can still be friends like before, that this doesn't affect anything." Sonea said with hope in her voice as the innocent blue eyes smiled up at her. " So, do you have any questions about this?" Sonea asked again.

"So because the Akatsuki are after me and the other bijuu, your seal is breaking because this is the way fate is going?" He asked, twiddling his thumbs in thought and Sonea nodded and Naruto sighed. "So, I guess I'm not strong enough yet then." He said sadly and Sonea smiled sadly.

"But that is why I'm here right now, to keep you training while Jiraiya recovers and hopefully change fate for the better with you." Sonea said happily and Naruto smiled.

"So when can I see Ero-Sennin so I can get back to training?" He asked with a grin and Sonea rolled her eyes with a smile.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

The air was still awkward between Naruto and Sonea with to many things that had not been said or asked as they made their way to the room next doors where Jiraiya was recovering. Sonea could see that the teen really cared for his master and told Bolt and Fall to give him a few minutes to watch over his sleeping master. Fall and Bolt had decided to buy some food for the time they would be spending there and Sonea returned to her and Naruto's room. She lay on the bed with her arms behind her head and her one knee brought up for the other leg to rest across it diagonally. She was holding up the seal that Jiraiya placed on Naruto and studying it carefully. It was a simple suppressing seal that had been modified to hold a massive amount of chakra to push the Kyuubi back and Sonea stored the design away in the back of her mind for future reference and disposed of the used seal tag with a small fire jutsu that let the paper disintegrate in her hand.

She began to get board, so she placed her earphones in that she always kept with her and turned the volume up high. She felt her muscles relax and a placid smile grace her face as she began to sing along. Soon her muscles were itching to move to the beat so she hopped up and placed the bed on it's side to give her some room and began to move with the music with her eyes closed as she relaxed for the first time in ages with the smile still stuck on her face.

Naruto sighed as he made his way back to his room, he knew that Jiraiya would be out from healing and the pain for a while and he was stuck with Sonea that he felt a little uncomfortable around since he learned about what she is. She was a jinchuuriki like him but had a completely different life, perhaps that is why she took it upon herself to look after him for a while when he was younger? That didn't sit well in his mind, to be given pity when he didn't need it but she was the only one who he could ask for help and be given it as well as physical contact. She gave him his first hug on his third birthday when she saved him from the villagers and he smiled as he realised what she meant about the villagers seeing a real demon as she transformed and they ran for their lives. The chakra that she emitted was darker than the Kyuubi but strangely comforting in a way and he knew he could trust her. He smiled stupidly to himself as an answer hit him.

Sonea is someone who he had trusted since he was three and the only person to see the true him and accept both sides of his personality freely. She never saw him as the demon child or a monster but a scared and lonely child who was shunned because people saw him as the actual Kyuubi but she knew that he was brave for containing such a monster as she was in the exact position and gave up her free time to help someone like her make it through a different path. He made the connection between Raven and Sonea and they were melding into one person within his mind. He started making more connections; the mission to the Land of Waves where he sensed that dark but comforting chakra who held him back from making and angered mistake of killing Haku, the way she had watched his team and Gaara, already knowing he was a jinchuuriki and hoped that she could break him of his chains when she went to talk with Naruto in the hospital the same day and told him that the Sandaime-jiji had died and allowed him to cry it out with her. The way she scolded Kaka-sensei and Ero-Sennin for the high-class moves that they taught him and Sasuke and told them exactly what was between him and Sasuke at that moment. The way he sensed her chakra manipulating the Kyuubi to heal him after loosing Sasuke at the Valley of the End She always praised him when he did something impressive but no one else noticed and scolded him for it being reckless at the same time and gave him her gratitude for it anyway so they could finish whatever it was that they had the mission for. And even though he knows the full truth of her now, Sonea is still Sonea and he decided that he would just have to accept it.

He froze with awe and shock with a hint of amusement as he opened the door to his room and saw Sonea with earphones in her ears and… Dancing? He stood by the half opened door watching the way she moved. The only sound was the music playing through the earphones as she twisted and turned to the beat. He moved were deadly quiet and accurate as he watched her leg do a full circle, barely missing her face as it landed again and moved into a turn in one movement. He watched the muscles ripple with ease and the flow of a deadly killer which reminded him of Kakashi, the few times he had seen the jonin deadly serious in battle, but this was no ordinary dance or taijutsu, no, it was a deadly dance of movements that could kill without a sound and a shiver ran down his spine. Sonea stopped suddenly and removed her earphones and her eyes on him, standing at the door. He rose an eyebrow at her big and innocent eyes as they stared at each other for a few minutes.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself." Sonea finally said sheepishly. "How long have you been standing there?" She asked as she placed her MP3 player into a seal on her skin and vanishes.

"Um I… Since you did that flip and twist thingy." He tried to explain but he was still struck with awe.

"Oh that, I got a bit carried away after that, what a great ninja I am, I could have been assassinated easily right then." She mumbled to herself as she set the bed right again with ease and Naruto became more awe struck. "You can come in now." She teased with her hands on her hips and facing him, leaning on one leg. He nodded stiffly and walked in, closing the door behind him and sat on the edge of the bed. Sonea turned to watch him and stepped away from the bed to examine what was wrong with him. "What's wrong?" She asked with furrowed brows and a worried tone.

"I… It… was amazing. You looked like Kaka-sensei but even more deadly and graceful and it took me off guard and the way you moved look effortless." He said with awe in his eyes, looking in Sonea's red ones. Sonea began to laugh a little and schooled her expression quickly at the odd glance Naruto gave her.

"What?" She asked with confusion and a hint of laughter to her voice.

"Do you think you can teach me to do that stuff?" He asked timidly.

"Well… Your broad body type is not built like Kakashi's and mine but I can teach you to be more flexible and give you a few ANBU hints as for being graceful, you'll have to get pointers from Jiraiya about that as you two have similar body types. For me, it's more feline and slinky but I've never trained someone who was broad and not as slinky, so I'll leave that part of your training to Jiraiya. Is that okay with you?" Sonea asked with a thoughtful expression.

"Hell yeah, dattebayo!" Naruto said hopping up and pumping a fist into the air happily as the air of awkwardness disappeared from between them. They went outside to a little park where they began a small battle so Sonea could see how well he had improved and where to start, even using genjutsu now and again and he noticed pretty quickly meaning Jiraiya had been training him for Itachi's skills specifically but it would help him overall and give him some more control over his chakra.

He came charging at her with a rasengan and Sonea started up storm release: eye of the storm jutsu and slammed them head on, creating a huge explosion of chakra and lightning as they went flying back and skidded along the ground in opposite directions. Sonea got up and dusted herself off as she headed over to Naruto who was still coughing from the dust cloud and waving his hand to dissipate it a little, sitting in a little crater.

"I have to say, Jiraiya's worked wonders with your skills. Your jutsu timing is good, taijutsu perfectly random and on point and overall ability has increased ten fold. I'm proud of you." Sonea said with satisfaction as she held her hand out to him and she pulled him to stand up.

"Thanks, I've been working as hard as I can to become stronger, get Sasuke back and finish Akatsuki for good." Naruto said with a grin as he dusted himself down. "By the way, what was that jutsu you used against my rasengan, it looked like rasengan and Chidori mixed together… Is that what it is?!" He asked excitedly as they headed back to their room and Sonea smiled with amusement.

"Not really… You see I have something called a kekkei toura, it's like a genkai but it has one other element to it and uses three elements simultaneously." She tried to explain.

"Oh, you mean like Haku and his ice?" He asked and Sonea nodded.

"He used water and wind to create ice, what I have is called the storm release of water, lightning and wind all into one, it's a jutsu I created a long time ago since I was the first and only one with that Kekkei genkai and I only have a few other jutsus for my storm release and my most powerful jutsu. Maybe one day you'll create a jutsu of your own." She said with a smile and ruffled his hair, creating a cloud of dust again making them both sneeze and laugh back to their room.

"You need to relax." Sonea said sternly a few days later, pushing down on Naruto's shoulders.

"I'm trying dattebayo but it fricken hurts." He ground out between his teeth.

"Take it like a man." Sonea growled, placing more pressure on his shoulders.

"I won't be a man if my balls split open." He yelled out and Sonea let go, laughing manically as Naruto fell from a splits position and held his family jewels. " What's so funny?" He yelled out from his foetal position, looking up at Sonea who was wiping away at some tears of laughter.

"I remember Kakashi saying a similar thing when I was training him." She laughed out and Naruto's interests perked up.

"You trained Kaka-sensei?" He asked with slight awe as he stretched out on the grass and Sonea sat down next to him, still wiping away tears.

"Yeah, that is why my movements seemed similar to his when you saw me dancing. I took him under my wing when the Yondaime took office and I trained him for ANBU after the third war." Sonea said as she set her gaze far away.

"What about the rest of his teammate, I know he was the Yondaime's student but what happened to the rest of his team?" Naruto asked with curiosity as he saw a chance to get to know his Sensei a bit better.

"They both died in the war." Sonea looked down with sadness but also… Guilt in her eyes? Naruto looked a bit saddened to.

"How old were they?" He asked softly.

"Barely thirteen, all of them at the time." She said with glazed eyes and Naruto though he should stop there. Sonea had obviously been close to his Sensei and the Yondaime for a long time and knew she held the same pain as Kakashi.

"I'm sorry." He whispered out for no reason as he sat up.

"Don't be… It's tough to loose a teammate, we both know that." She said solemnly as she placed a hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes with a small smile.

"Can I ask you a question?" He asked timidly.

"Sure, go ahead." She said with interest and a smile.

"The Valley of the End, can you tell me about the Shodia Hokage and Uchiha Madara and why that valley is there?" He asked with interest and Sonea smiled slightly and gazed far away again.

"You know that the Uchihas and Senjus were at war until they made peace and started Konoha. Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were the clan leaders and Hashirama wanted to give the name of Hokage to Madara but the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama said that he should let the village choose and so they chose Hashirama over Madara. Madara became irritated at how his clan was treated and how he did not become Hokage so he left. Hashirama went after him and I went with him to detain the Kyuubi that he had control over at the time and Uzumaki Mito had followed us and as I lost to the Kyuubi, Mito sealed it within herself to save her husband and Konoha. Madara died at the hands of his life long friend and the land was left devastated beyond repair so they built the two statues there and created a river so that life could form there again. Does that answer your question?" Sonea asked, looking back at Naruto's tentative face.

"Wow, hearing a real life experience is so much more thrilling than reading about it." He said and Sonea laughed. "But why were you left out of the history books?" He asked with frustration as he though history had been lying to him.

"My existence was completely secret and it could be easily left out as no one but Hashirama, Mito, Madara and I knew exactly what went on there, it was better that way for me to always exist like a ghost and behind the cover of Raven. I was already being exploited by someone because of the power of my bloodline and the Jyuubi's power by someone I trusted and I decided that only the Hokages and jinchuuriki's would ever know about me. This is the first time four people out of those ranks know about me." Sonea said, stretching out some kinks

"So Ero-Sennin, Shizune and Kaka-sensei know about you, who's the fourth?" He asked with curiosity.

"Well, I've actually been on a mission since you left for your training with Kakashi and the third person named Tenzo, I've been locating the other jinchuuriki's and warning them of Akatsuki and you're not the first pissed off jinchuuriki I have faced so far so dealing with you was child's play, you should try two at a time." Sonea said with a smirk, pulling the grass out and making a little mountain in front of her.

"So, you're finished with that mission already?" He asked.

"No, I'm still on it but protection and training for you comes first." Sonea said as she watched her grass pile fly away with the wind and closed her eyes to the soft caress from the wind against her skin.

"So where is your team now?" He asked with curiosity.

"Around… you don't need to worry. Now, back to training." She said hopping up and helping a groaning Naruto to his feet. She worked on his fluidity and shadow clone timing as well as substitution with his clones and he was improving by the day.

"Sonea…" Fall's voice called and they stopped their training as Fall came running up to them.

"Hey, what's up is everything okay?" Sonea asked, wiping some sweat from her forehead with the back of her wrist as Naruto stood next to her calmly but also with anxiety as he knew Fall had been watching over Jiraiya.

"He's awake, Jiraiya, he wants to see you and Naruto." Fall said and Naruto flinched and Sonea caught it out of the corner of her eyes.

"What if he's angry with me and treats me like everyone else?" Naruto mumbled out disheartened. Sonea smiled and put her arm around his shoulders, leading him back to the hotel.

"He won't be angry. Jiraiya understands you and knows how dangerous this training is… He knew what he's getting into and he won't be angry, just happy that you're both okay… I'll give you a few minutes with him." Sonea said, stopping outside his door and heading into her room being shared with Naruto to clean up.

She sat on the bed and meditated for a while and waited for Naruto so she could go and visit Jiraiya herself and scold him and she smiled at the thought. Her seal was still intact but extremely weak and would begin to break soon as the Jyuubi screeched in her mind, fighting against the seal around it and she shook her head. Her seal on the outside was painful, like a constant pinch to the skin where the seal was but the medication Fall came with was dulling it down to a dull throb and not painful just numb. She felt Naruto's presence as he opened the door and gestured with a jerk of his head towards Jiraiya's room so she got up and headed over.

"Good to see you alive and kicking again old man." She teased, closing the door behind her and moving to the chair next to his bed.

"Speak for yourself." He grunted but smiled none the less.

"How are you doing?" She asked on a more serious note.

"I'll heal but it's painful still at the moment but I should be up and moving again shortly. What have you been doing with Naruto?" He asked.

"Clones and substitution plus a little ANBU style body conditioning, some genjutsu training as well and just taijutsu… You've done a good job with him so far, thanks." Sonea said with a thankful smile and he laughed his usual boisterous laugh.

"Thank my old man, he did plan for this but it just moved up quicker with Akatsuki." He said with seriousness again.

"Yeah, speaking of the devils, I've run into them once already and they've been keeping watch on me with Kakashi and Tenzo as well which is worrying so once you're able to take care of Naruto properly again, we're going to take off quickly so they don't have time to regroup, getting some ground between us so I can finish my mission without complication." Sonea informed and Jiraiya nodded in thought.

"I see…" He said lost in thought.

"Plus, I've told Naruto about me and he took it calmly thankfully." She said with a deep breath of relief.

"How's your seal?" He asked and Sonea sighed.

"Getting worse as well as painful and it hasn't even begun to break yet… Tsunade's got me on pain medication but my control over the chakra is loosening and my seal gets ten times more painful with each time I use it… It's a last resort power now but with Naruto I'll be using it a lot." She said with some anger and sadness.

"Are you sure you're fine to be around him?" Jiraiya asked with concern.

"I'll have to get use to it, I'm rarely going to let him out of my sight once he gets back… They'll seal the bijuu in order and the Kyuubi is last so he'll be my final stand with him if it comes down to it." Sonea said with determination and some sadness to her tone and Jiraiya nodded.

"The world is depending on the both of you so I'll keep my ears open." Jiraiya said and Sonea nodded, standing up and bidding him a good night as she left.

**A/N: Lol poor Sonea. At least she got to see Naruto again and some more of their bond was explained, sadly no lovey dovey stuff but there will be in the next chapter and maybe if I get some reviews I'll have it up tomorrow… Who knows maybe hell will freeze over ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter fifteen

Just on the outskirts of Doshu town, three grumpy figures could be seen making their way into the town. Kakashi really missed Sonea and wanted to be around her as much as possible since things would get busy and hectic when they got back and Naruto came back, he wanted to spend with her the time she had left and as much as he could so he couldn't regret it if she did die within the next few years.

He always missed her presence but now more than before with their blood bond complete, she was like a drug to him, someone to open up to and be himself more often as she brought a side of him out no one else ever had and she was always smiling and talking to him and he loved her voice and he could listen to her like a lullaby forever and be content.

'_So sappy Hatake.'_ He mused to himself with a smile, his nose buried in Icha Icha as the walked.

Tenzo was irritated that she just up and left without telling him straight to his face and having to find out when a big black wolf waltzed out of Kakashi's room with him, he was given a lazy wave and said Sonea had taken off and that they had to get to Doshu town as soon as possible, nothing else. Though he did nearly faint when the giant wolf transformed into his old sensei Panther and that he was a part of Sonea's circle, that was another reason he was grumpy and mumbling under his breath every few seconds.

Storm was so irritable from the other two male's PMS attitude and decided they had spent their time around a female for too long and made his point across to Sonea many times in his consciousness and he could feel the smirk she gave him in return. He booked them into a hotel for the night and relaxed in the armchair while the other two took the two couches.

'_You better hurry your ass up unless you want to come back to two dead teammates.' _Storm warned Sonea in his conscience with a growl and he could hear her laughter.

'_I'll be on my way now._' She said with amusement to him and cut the connection and he growled.

"Okay Naruto, I'm cutting training short for today, I have to go and meet my team quickly." Sonea said, raising her hand up to stop their match and Naruto took a deep breath and grinned, wiping away some sweat.

"That's cool, I'll just spend some time with Ero-Sennin." Naruto said happily, linking his hands behind his head as they walked.

"You two will probably get back to your training soon and we'll split paths again but I'll see you back in Konoha again." Sonea said with a smile, ruffling his hair and he just laughed, she liked to see him laughing carefree. "I'll be back as soon as possible, tomorrow latest." She said, taking off in a different direction as they came up to the hotel they were staying in. As soon as she was outside of the town's limits, she transformed into her black wolf form with ten tails and purple highlights at full speed for the next town over; Doshu town. It felt good to run again even if it's her wolf form, she could feel all of her muscles stretching out nicely and howled her pleasure with a silent laugh as she came up to the next town and stopped to transform back.

Strom stood up and answered the door to Sonea who stepped in and gave a two-fingered salute with a grin and found herself twirled around and a familiar set of lips and arms around her in a heated and longed for kiss even if Kakashi had his mask on still. And he broke the kiss, setting Sonea straight up again on the ground but kept his hold around her and she had her hands on his upper arms with her head turned to the side to watch Tenzo.

"How could you just up and leave, without telling your other teammate?" He asked with a slight hurt tone. Sonea sighed and released herself from Kakashi and got onto her haunches next to his chair.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you but it was an emergency and I needed to leave right away. But I have come back to give you a suggestion." She said and it sparked Tenzo's interests.

"What suggestion?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Actual practise with Naruto and the Kyuubi." She said with a grin. And Tenzo seemed excited at this.

"There is just one catch to this though." She said quickly before he got to excited.

"What?" He asked with a blank face and a suspicious tone.

"You will do it as an ANBU and Naruto will not see you but he will know that someone is there, I'll make something up. I have my reasons, do you have a problem with this?" She asked and he nodded. "Okay, Storm please release the summoning and fetch Tenzo's ANBU uniform and I'll summon you back here in an hour. Dismissed." Sonea said to Storm who nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. She turned back to Kakashi where she was still attached to him and he eye smiled.

"I missed you." He said and Sonea couldn't help but smile with a little laugh and hug him tight.

"I missed both of you too… Storm's told me you two have been acting like grumpy old women… care to explain?" Sonea asked as she dragged Kakashi back to the couch and he made her sit across his lap, not wanting to let go of her.

"Well, he says we have been around a female for to long that we have started to act like one with how grumpy we were during the trip, even though we told him our reasons." Tenzo said with irritation and Sonea laughed silently.

"He's just jealous." Sonea said, leaning into Kakashi, her face at the crook of his neck breathing in his forest like scent nuzzling him slightly and a hand on his chest above his heart.

"What do you mean he's jealous?" Kakashi asked, turning his head towards her slightly. It took a second for Sonea to register the question that her eyes opened like a shot. She sighed unhappily as guilt washed over her and she pulled away from Kakashi and held her head in her hands. She had forgotten about Storm and his feelings for her and then she went and stuck the two of them together. _Idiot! _

"Sonea?" Kakashi asked confused and placed a hand on her back for comfort and she shrugged it off, stood up and walked outside silently. Kakashi got up to follow her but Tenzo got up and stopped him and they both sat back down again.

Sonea sat in a tree outside with one knee pulled up to her chest and the other leg dangling over the branch. She scolded herself for being so heartless in front of Storm when Kakashi kissed her in front of everyone. She could feel the waves of jealousy washing off of Storm's consciousness and it was clawing at her insides, she needed to sort this out once and for all. An hour had passed and it was the dreaded time to summon Storm back and end this once and for all between Sonea and him. She performed the summoning and there stood Storm with a bag slung over his shoulders and his arms crossed and leaning on one leg.

"Storm, we need to talk." Sonea said seriously.

"We do but listen to me first." Storm asked, holding up a hand to get her to stop from talking before he took a deep breath. "I have no right to get jealous and try to control you… Kakashi's the perfect match to you and I can see it in the way you've always looked at him and how you talk about each other… I've come to terms with my feelings for you and I want you to be happy and I think I'm over you now. I want to move on and find someone like you have and I think I have… I've done a lot of thinking and it's true that death changes you and I'm thankful you brought me back to fix this I let my jealousy spread because it caught me off guard and I apologise for that… And by the way, happy birthday." He said with a grin and Sonea was frozen in shock.

"I… You um… I… I'm happy for you?" She said, a little unsure of where to start after what she had just heard. She shook her head hard and wiped at her eyes with her palms to gain her thoughts again. "Thank you Storm and how did you remember it is my birthday and who is this lucky person?" She asked a bit calmer and hooked her arm with his as they made their way back to the room where Tenzo and Kakashi waited.

"I have always remembered your birthday, you know that, and as for my love life…" He said with a blush and scratched at the nape of his neck.

"Come on, spit it out." Sonea moaned and nudged his ribs with her hooked arm.

"Well since Seth and Star got together, I began hanging out with Sage and…" He began.

"Kya!" Sonea squealed and Storm stuck a finger in his ringing ear with his eye scrunched closed.

"That was my ear and yes, it's Sage just to confirm it for you." He said with a not impressed tone. Sonea began to giggle at her reaction and how cute they would look together.

"I never though you swing that way, but I suppose the tight clothing should have given it away." Sonea said in a mocking tone and Storm just grunted.

"You're the one who dressed me in this style remember?" He said with a nostalgic smile and Sonea laughed as they opened the door back to the room they had booked into. Sonea saw a slight glare from Kakashi but nothing else as Storm passed Tenzo his bag and they stood calmly.

"We're heading to the next town over so you're closer to me until Jiraiya is good to go again so get your stuff together cause we're leaving as soon as possible." Sonea instructed and they both stood up to collect their things again.

"We better get moving soon with the speed I travel at." Kakashi mused and Sonea grinned evilly.

"We're not walking…" Sonea said, Storm laughed, Kakashi groaned and Tenzo seemed confused. Sonea and Storm began shifting and they stood there patiently as Kakashi got on Sonea and Tenzo onto Storm. "Hold on tight." Sonea said as she took off at full speed with Storm right on her tail.

They made it to the town where Naruto and Jiraiya are within three hours of straight running after the pace was slowed down when Sonea realised the sudden jolting was aggravating the wounds that were still healing on Kakashi and the ride became almost smooth like material flowing in the wind. Sonea had led them to a place on the other side of the town so that their paths wouldn't cross and booked them into a hotel for the time being with two rooms. Tenzo moved off to one room to get dressed into his ANBU uniform while Sonea helped Kakashi to sit down on the couch and pulled up his shirt to check his wound.

"I'll see you later Sonea, I'm heading back now." Storm said and Sonea turned back to him with a smile.

"Thanks for everything Storm, I'll see you when we get back, maybe sooner." She said, hugging him quickly before he poofed away and Sonea turned back to Kakashi and got on her haunches in front of him as she cut away the bandaging on his wound. She removed the old bandaging and touched the pink skin carefully and he didn't flinch at all. "Is it feeling better?" She asked, checking it over with medical jutsu, a frown on concentration on her face.

"It's not sore anymore just a little uncomfortable at times but I should be back to normal in no time." He said, touching the skin there as well and Sonea stood up with her hands on her hips calmly.

"I want you to leave the bandaging off now and let it get use to the outside again… Also some stomach exercises will build up your core muscles again so do some of those but don't push it too far, just until you're tired." Sonea said calmly and Kakashi chuckled and leaned forwards and her eyes snapped up to his face.

"Amazing… You can talk about this to anyone but when it involves feelings and more contact you completely freeze up." He said and she was just about to ask him what he meant when he stood up and kissed her, pressing her against him, pushing his hands between her shoulder blades and lower back as she tilted her head and deepened the kiss with a smile and a blush heavy on her face as her arms wrapped around his neck. He pulled back and hid an amused smirk behind his mask once more, still holding her at the small of her back. "See, completely freeze up." He mocked with amusement to his tone as Sonea blinked rapidly and gaped her mouth, trying to say something but couldn't with the blush on her face. He laughed, pecked her and sat back down again as she still stood there when Tenzo came out in his ANBU uniform.

"I'm ready Sonea-san." Tenzo said coolly, easily going back into his ANBU ways. Sonea stood up and smiled at the familiar outfit with his white porcelain mask shaped like a feral cat with green and red swirls on it.

"Alright Neko-san, let's see how rusty you've gotten. Shall we?" Sonea said, leading him to the door. "We'll see you later, don't do anything I would." She said to Kakashi with a smirk and closed the door behind them. Sonea walked normally across the town, it had only taken her one-day and she told Naruto and Jiraiya two. She could feel Tenzo lurking in the shadows as she moved and he wasn't rusty at all, that's what comes with being with ANBU since a small age, like Kakashi. She had to agree with herself that this type of stuff wasn't something that could be forgotten easily and received an unwelcomed shiver down her exposed spine as she fought anguish that washed over her from the last ANBU mission she had failed. She felt Tenzo tense in the shadows but she gave a quick signal that she was alright and would explain later and he calmed again.

She entered Jiraiya's room and saw him and Naruto chatting happily and Naruto beamed when he turned and saw Sonea standing there with a smile on her face and he stood up to greet her and she grabbed him in a hug and ruffled his hair roughly and he played along, 'fighting' to get out of her hold while they laughed.

"You said you wouldn't be back at least until tomorrow morning, did your team bore you that much?" Naruto asked happily, fixing his hair.

"Well, you see, there was a magical wolf I met in the forest that offered me it's services of teleporting and…" Sonea decided to go the Kakashi approach for the opposite reason and Naruto still cut her off and shouted.

"Liar!" He said, pointing a finger at her accusingly and Sonea rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Anyway, I want you to meet someone who will be around but you can't meet him face to face as he's ANBU like I use to be, come with me." Sonea said leading the way to an open patch of grass where Tenzo waited in the shadows. "Naruto, I want you to meet a friend of mine, Neko-san and Neko-san this is Uzumaki Naruto." Sonea introduced them, even though they couldn't see Tenzo but Naruto was cool with it since he never saw Raven until she finally appeared one night.

"It's nice to meet a friend of Sonea's, Neko-san." Naruto bowed to the tree he was in. Sonea found it amusing how normal and respectful Naruto acted around her and anyone of her friends and he was even calm with Jiraiya most the time but if he was around his peers he put his mask back on and both sides of him were him and Sonea accepted it easily because even she has a few different side to her. She wouldn't be sane after all this time if she didn't.

"It is an honour to meet you Naruto-kun and I look forward to watching you while Sonea-san trains you." Tenzo replied back respectfully and his presence lessened until he was nearly undetectable.

"Alright Naruto I want you to enjoy the rest of your day off so here is some money and go have fun and I'll see you later, I have a few things to take care of." Sonea said happily as she threw a small pouch of money at Naruto who was extremely grateful and took off for the market.

"He looks like a good kid." Tenzo said, hopping down next to Sonea still in his full ANBU attire.

"He is a ray of sunshine. He acts differently around different people so don't be alarmed if he all of a sudden changes, you just have to accept that he has more than one side to his personality and you'll be fine." Sonea said, looking off where Naruto had just run off.

"A defence mechanism?" Tenzo asked.

"Yes, unfortunately. Let's go back, I'll return later." Sonea said walking back across town with Tenzo in the shadows again. They had come under cover of the trees before their hotel and Tenzo walked next to her without his mask on.

"So, what was that shiver earlier?" He asked carefully, studying Sonea's face.

"Before we left on this mission, I asked to be temporarily retired from ANBU after a mission gone wrong and I was just remembering what happened, that was all." She said with a slight anguished tone and Tenzo noticed this as post mission stress but he had never seen someone like Sonea react so badly and for a long period of time, normal people would have snapped by now. But Sonea knew this wasn't the right time to remember it and pushed back the memories for another time and placed her happy self on again as they got closer to where they were staying. Tenzo greeted Kakashi with a wave as he moved to get dressed and Sonea bent down by Kakashi who was doing one finger push ups and pushed himself up to give her a welcome home kiss before she excused herself to the bathroom.

She collapsed against the closed door and arched her back, face scrunched up in pain as she clawed at her shoulders. She allowed her laboured breathing to come through as she fought against the pain on her seal. It had been gradually getting worse since she used it to fight and stop Naruto but she didn't think it would get so bad so quickly within an hour or so. She was weakening drastically and already having a weak body wasn't helping. The Jyuubi's screeches and struggling was becoming a constant irritation in the back of her mind as she slumped fully against the door, cold sweat pouring off of her body as she tried to regain her breathing, getting use to the pain slightly. The Jyuubi's power had caused her body to go into a state of shock as it felt like someone was cutting at her seal every second. She really didn't want to rely on the pain medication but it became to much as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the level five painkiller and swallowed them, turning the shower on and stripping down carefully. She stepped under the hot rays and hissed at the painful contact it made with her seal until it went numb and she cleaned herself up.

She stepped out and threw on a loose t-shirt and shorts and lay across the couch, using Kakashi's thigh as a pillow as the pain eased and she fell asleep with Kakashi absentmindedly stroking through her hair and reading his Icha Icha.

Tenzo watched Sonea for the rest of the afternoon with awe as it seemed like she just changed people when she spoke of that last mission she failed and how she had shown such post mission stress and not broken from it. She acted like she was not a ninja at all but a civilian, the way she walks with the distinct slight clack of her shoes and the ruffling of her clothes every time she moved and her breathing was loud and uneven for an odd reason. Tenzo felt like he was missing something big that would fill in the blanks of this mysterious person as he continued to watch with confusion as it seemed Kakashi was blissfully unaware of her situation.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

Sonea strolled through the night as she looked up at the clear sky and the stars absent and the full moon hanging large and heavy in the beautiful violet night sky. The perfect night for flying and Sonea got an idea and began so smirk as she rounded the corner to the hotel, a late birthday present to Naruto.

She found Naruto lying on the bed with only his pants on and staring up at the ceiling mindlessly as she swung the door shut with a big bang and Naruto was up in a shot with a kunai at the ready. He slumped and looked at Sonea broadly before lying back on the bed like nothing happened, he had failed to miss the big smirk on Sonea's face.

"Hey, what you doing?" Sonea asked while she moved into the room and sat on the bed next to him.

"Just some thinking, that's all," He said distractedly.

"Well if you're not to busy in your thinking then I have something cool to show you, so put on a shirt and follow me." Sonea said becoming for him to follow her as her smirk remained in place. Naruto shrugged, got up and put on a black shirt to follow her out into the night. They walked for an hour before Naruto began to get impatient and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Where are we going Sonea?" He asked with a hint of annoyance to his tone as they walked up a hill.

"We're here." She said opening her arms out to the town below them. Naruto looked and it did look cool to see a town stick out against the starless night in all of its shining glory.

"It's beautiful up here, it reminds me of Konoha from the Yondaime's head on the mountain." He said happily as he looked out across the town.

"This isn't all I wanted to show you." Sonea said with evilness showing through her voice as he watched her with confusion as she formed her tail and wings and her smirk grew bigger. She moved to fast for Naruto to follow her and before he knew it he was on her back and they were running for the edge of the hill as Sonea jumped off. Naruto wouldn't admit it but he screamed like a girl when they left the ground and began to ascend upwards, he realised after a few seconds that his eyes were closed and they weren't falling so he opened his eyes carefully and peeked over Sonea's shoulder down towards the ground.

It was the most amazing thing he had ever seen as he lay against Sonea's back between her wings at the town and the fluffy clouds that were below them. Sonea interrupted his thoughts with her laughter against his chest and he looked into her face questioningly and she turned her head towards him and smiled.

"Happy late fifteenth birthday Naruto." She said and looked towards the town again and in front of her as she beat her wings and glided. "Hold on tight." She said and he did as she asked as her tail wrapped around his waist to hold him steady as she began a few barrel turns and loops and Naruto shouted at the fun feeling and Sonea laughed happily.

"Hey, when is your birthday?" He asked when she was beginning her decent towards the hotel's roof.

"It's actually today, I turned nineteen." She said with a sad smile that Naruto didn't see as she placed her feet down and Naruto let go and stepped back slightly as she turned to face him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know dattebayo." He said panicked and Sonea smiled and laughed and Naruto looked at her questioningly again.

"It's okay, this is the first real birthday in ages anyway and I'm glad I got to show you what it feels like to fly that I have been gifted to do so don't worry, just remember next year." She said, leading him back to their room and they slept happily that night.

Sonea woke up to an empty room the next morning as she rubbed her eyes with confusion and sat up. She looked around quickly and carefully making sure everything was still closed and there had been no forced entry in case Akatsuki decided to sink so low. Deciding that everything was sufficiently checked and all of her traps and jutsus were still in place, she got out of bed and moved to the bathroom to clean up and decided that Naruto must have gone to see Jiraiya.

Sonea returned from the bathroom to find Naruto sitting on the bed with a small box in his hand as he played with it. He looked up to see her towelling her hair and quickly drying it with a small jutsu and sat down next to him and waited.

"How old are you really?" He asked, looking at her with conflict in his usually bright blue eyes.

"Hm, let's see… If I remember correctly my real age is five hundred and… sixty four, give or take ten years." She said while looking up in concentration and furrowed brows. Naruto's mouth fell to the floor.

"Whoa… that's like borderline unbelievable… Ow!" He said as Sonea whacked him over the head with a vein, popping out on her forehead slightly.

"What do you mean 'borderline'?" She asked through clenched teeth as the vein got more visible.

"I didn't mean it like that…" He said, holding his hands up in surrender and a sorry smile on his face. "I just mean that we see some odd stuff as ninja and the way you look so young and beautiful for that age is unbelievable." He said, covering his hid. Sonea smirked and laughed.

"Well, it looks like you have learned to charm a lady the right way, unlike your master." She said with slight disgust at the end and in the other room, Jiraiya sneezed and mumbled about it must be a beautiful young lady thinking about him. He smiled back at Sonea and she pulled him into a sideways hug with one arm and he wrapped his arm around her to.

"Oh… here, I almost forgot… Happy birthday for yesterday." He said handing her the box that fit in her palm. She slid off the lid and smiled at what she saw. It was a tiny silver charm, about one centimetre in diameter, that was shaped like a cross but it looked like it was two s-shapes crossing over each other. She picked it up carefully and placed it on the chain that was linking her earrings at the top of her ear with the bottom ones on her right ear. She shook her head so the charm moved and smiled at the anxiously awaiting Naruto next to her.

"Naruto, it's so cute and perfect, thank you." She said with heart-felt words and squeezed him in a big hug and let him go when he was running out of air.

"Ero-Sennin said he wanted to start moving around a little today so he asked if he could take the lesson as he knows that you're still on your mission and he said that you should see him later." Naruto said, leaping off the bed and heading out of the door in a flash of orange. Sonea smiled, finally a day off, she would leave Tenzo to watch Naruto while she spent some time training Kakashi up again, revenge for forgetting her birthday is sweet.

She strolled back towards the other hotel, whistling the Pink Panther tune as she thought about her revenge and felt a familiar presence in the shadow that had stopped to look at her questioningly.

"Jiraiya's handling him today, just watch him, thanks." She mouthed and he nodded before blending back in the shadows and carrying on towards his destination. She got to the room and nearly kicked the door down with a smirk at Kakashi who had looked up from his book with a raised eyebrow at her and a wave. "Don't you just sit and wave at me, let's get going, no more lazing around reading that smut." She said, taking his book and tossing it as it landed on their bags as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him all the way to a little clearing juts outside of the town.

She took a fighting stance, Kakashi sighed and got ready. He knew that the only time she did a strictly taijutsu match was when something was bothering her or he was in trouble so during their match, which was one sided, he tried to wrack his brain for something he might have forgotten. Kakashi froze during the fight.

"Oh my god…" He said with his visible eye widening but Sonea was already going for another attack and couldn't stop and landed a hard punch, which sent him flying a few good metres, solidly into his jaw. Sonea flinched when she realised and ran towards him and got down on her knees next to Kakashi who was resting against an elbow and touching his face tenderly as blood began to soak into his mask She quickly and carefully pulled the mask down and looked at the damage. His cheek was already turning a good shade of purple and blue and his lip was split. She placed her hands above his cheek and began healing the wound on the inside from where he bit it.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't expect for you to stop so suddenly and not block." Sonea said, trying to contain a bit of laughter. She hadn't landed a hit on Kakashi like that since he was fourteen and Kakashi hadn't been hit on his face either since Sonea did it. She lowered her hands from his cheek and waited patiently with her hands in her lap as Kakashi tested out his jaw.

"Wow, I haven't been decked in the face like that since the last time you did." He said with a bit of laughter and smiled at Sonea. Sonea's heart fluttered at the sight as her eyes widened slightly and she looked away and down with a blush.

"Why didn't you block?" She asked with a timid mumble as she didn't look at him and willed her blush away.

"The only times you want a strict taijutsu battle is when you need to be distracted or I'm in trouble for something and I figured it was the latter… I forgot it was your birthday yesterday." He said sadly as he placed a finger under her chin and raised it so she was looking at him, her blush hardened as he smiled sweetly, his dimples showing as he leaned in and just millimetres from her mouth he whispered: "Happy birthday Sonea Storm Shadow." His lips brushing against hers and his breath washing over and his low voice full of love as she sighed into it and closed her eyes, her hands coming up to his neck as they kissed with passion and love for each other. Kakashi leaned back and lay down with her following, still connected as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him, smiling into the kiss as his cheeks became a little pink as well.

They broke the kiss because of lack of oxygen and panted as they laid there with their foreheads against one another as Sonea's fingers massaged the nap of his neck and he held his arms around her a little tighter and she let out a little silent sigh. Kakashi stopped breathing for a second when she opened her eyes and gave him a crooked smile that said she was happy to be with him but felt like she didn't deserve him and he pecked her lips to reassure her again as he just felt her body lying against his on top of them.

"Kakashi…" She whispered out of breath, bringing his eyes back up to meet hers. "I'm so sorry for everything. For keeping your mom alive for those few short years, for not being able to save your father or your team, not stopping Sasuke, Completing the blood bond…" She began whispering out until she was roughly turned over onto her back, being pinned down by Kakashi's body and his lips against hers roughly, almost with anger.

"Listen to me Sonea. You know I've wanted this bond to be complete since I found out about it so don't be sorry for it because you also saved my live using it… Whether it was ever completed or not during our lifetime, I would have always been yours and no one else because I really…" He said swallowing hard. "…Care for you a lot so please just don't regret anything you've done and move forwards to fix it…. With me." He said, taking her hand and linking their fingers together.

"I don't know why I can't let go of the past…" Sonea said, wrapping her fingers around his and squeezing gently, watching intently.

"Your seal is breaking and you're possibly going to die." He said, swallowing the lump in his throat and ignoring the clenching in his chest at the thought. "So you need to live life to the limit now, forget the past because it's not going to help you now." Kakashi said with a tender smile, his dimples melting her heart as she closed her teary eyes and just rested her forehead against his, still clutching his hand.

"How did I ever live without you?" Sonea mused with a small smile and a silent laugh.

"Maybe you just never 'lived'." Kakashi said and she opened her eyes with a thankful smile and rolled Kakashi off of her and sat up, helping Kakashi slightly to sit up as well as he was still sore from the taijutsu free for all.

"They don't call you a genius for nothing Hatake… I've got to go and talk to Jiraiya." Sonea said, standing up and pulling Kakashi up gently with her as she carefully slung his arm over her shoulders to support him a little bit as she could see the slight pain on his expression as she stopped them and pulled up his bloodied mask again. "Only I get to see that…" She mused with an amused yet possessive smirk that made Kakashi shiver.

"How is Jiraiya-sama doing?" Kakashi asked, wanting a distraction from the pain as they walked.

"He'll be good to go soon and I want us to move straight out but I'll be able to give us a basic time frame after talking to him this afternoon, we don't need to be followed again." Sonea explained calmly as she looked ahead. "I want you to have a good bath with Epson salts in and do a little light stretching afterwards before you do anything else… I was pretty rough on you this afternoon." Sonea said with slight regret to her voice and Kakashi chuckled lowly.

"I deserved my punishment… I'll see you when you get back from Jiraiya-sama." Kakashi said as they stopped outside of their hotel and put a finger under her chin to kiss her through the mask quickly before heading inside to do as she instructed. Sonea smiled to herself as she sprinted across the town to the other hotel and headed up to Jiraiya's room and knocked, she heard him call and she stepped in, closing the door behind her. Jiraiya was sitting in a chair with a small table next to him with another chair across from him that Sonea took while she could feel Fall and Bolt waiting patiently in the shadows.

"You're looking hell of a lot better." Sonea mused with a smirk as she leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms and legs.

"We'll be out of your hair soon, thank you again for taking Naruto under your wing for a while… How's your mission going?" Jiraiya asked and Sonea grimaced with an amused smile.

"Not as smooth as planned but getting there, Ichibi, Gonbi, Yonbi, Nanabi and Kyuubi successful. I just need to find the two in Kaminari and the other two in Mizu." Sonea informed him and he nodded seriously before copying her posture.

"The Niibi and Hachibi are in Kumo and the Rokubi and Sanbi were known to be in Mizu but the information is hazy. Nii Yugito is a blonde jonin Kunoichi of Kumogakure, pretty feisty with two braids of hair to symbol her two tails… Some say she becomes the actual beast inside her. A man by the name Killer B has the Hachibi but difficult to get to since he's Raikage A's right hand man and basically brother. You have history with Raikage's so he'll be safe without your warning. The Sanbi hasn't been seen since the Yondaime Mizukage's mysterious death during the rebellion and they apparently just lost their grasp on the Rokubi due to a misunderstanding but it's worth it to check Kiri out for them, you need to complete most of this mission." Jiraiya informed her and Sonea smirked and lowered her head as she closed her eyes.

"I knew I should have separated the Sanbi from Yagura before I killed him but that would have made things worse…" Sonea mused, tapping her finger against her arm.

"You killed Yagura?!" Jiraiya asked in a harsh whisper, leaning forwards in his chair with disbelief.

"I had no choice… It was just before the chunin exams and I needed stability among the bijuu to correct itself again even if I killed the Sanbi again… I just hope he can forgive me one day…" Sonea mused, looking up at the ceiling with a haunted gaze and Jiraiya dropped the topic.

"Give us five days and we'll be gone. Say your good byes quickly during the week and see you within another year Sonea… Thanks for your tail and everything else you've done for him." Jiraiya said, holding out his hand to Sonea who took it and shook it with a proper smile while standing up.

"It was my pleasure just be careful this time." Sonea said, leaving out the door and closing it behind her as she headed to Naruto's room to say good-bye for now.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen

Sonea, Kakashi and Tenzo had woken up at the same time a few mornings later and ate breakfast together in a comfortable silence. Sonea finished quickly, seeming to be a bit timid and tired so she retired to the couch after her food and proceeded to fall asleep on it quickly. Tenzo cleaned up the table and Kakashi found a blanket and laid it over Sonea's blissfully sleeping form with a small smile behind his mask.

He got down on his haunches and examined her sleeping form. To anyone who didn't know her, it would seem like she was just deep asleep but Kakashi knew better. Her pitch-black hair seemed to have lost some of its glossiness and her bright red eyes only lit up only for him now. There were bruise-like rings under her eyes that he rubbed gently with his thumb and her creamy tanned skin seemed paler than usual.

Her once open and graceful features seemed to hold pain in them all of the time now and very defensive and closed off. He could feel she tried not to wince or show pain when he held her by surprise and it pained him in his heart but he knew she was just sore and tired with pain and the way her life was going in particular.

"So you've finally noticed Kakashi-senpai?" Tenzo asked, standing at the foot of the couch studying the both of them.

"How long has she been suffering in silence like this?" Kakashi asked him, moving some of her hair behind her ear.

"I noticed it after the two jinchuuriki she had to fight and it only got worse after that with her sickness that month… I talked to Fall… She's taking level five painkillers from Tsunade-sama. Its painful to watch an amazing person like her go through such hell." Tenzo said and Kakashi hummed an absentminded agreement. "Let's let her sleep senpai, she'll be up and about again after a good rest." Tenzo tried to reassure him and Kakashi stood up again.

"Good idea… Shall we get some training in?" Kakashi asked with his eye smile and Tenzo nodded his head in excitement at training with his senpai again as they locked up and headed to the forest.

'_Sonea… Wake up I need to talk to you… SONEA WAKE YOUR LAZY ASS UP!'_ Fall shouted, making Sonea jump off of the couch and land hard on the floor after getting tangled up in a blanket.

'_What!' _Sonea growled in her subconscious.

'_Jiraiya and Naruto are moving out tomorrow morning and Bolt said he will continue to follow them. Can I go back to Konoha now?' _She asked with mirth in her voice from waking Sonea up so quickly.

'_Right we'll get moving then and yes you can go back to Konoha… Say hi to Sage and the Sand siblings for me and I'll see you back in Konoha.' _Sonea said breaking the connection. Sonea sighed as she pushed up into a kneeling position, rubbing her temples with her fingers. She looked around and noticed the rooms were empty with their stuff all still there as she stood up and stretched a little.

She saw the door was locked so Tenzo and Kakashi must have just gone out for a while as she noticed it was about noon already. She hummed as she walked to the kitchen and made some snacks from the leftovers Tenzo had left for them wondering what they were doing. She had taken out her MP 3 player and was humming and singing to the music as she finished up lunch and packed it up before cleaning the mess she had made and headed out to the forest by the hotel where she could feel Tenzo and Kakashi's chakra. She had thrown on a black dress that came down to her knees before leaving just as a change and smiled as she listened to the music and felt the two familiar chakras.

She could feel they were more potent and stronger than before which made her smile further. Tenzo had done well with Naruto in holding the Kyuubi in check and Kakashi could leave his sharingan open for a whole day and train at a good pace with it. Sonea had no progress, just regression with her skills, loosing the complete control over the Jyuubi's power that needed to be fixed as soon as possible or it would break her seal further if the Jyuubi gains his chakra back. Her smile dropped as she kept thinking at the pain the seal was causing that would distract her a lot in fights and such but the medication was helping but for how long if she's already half way on the scale of medication, anything higher than level ten would do more damage than good then there was her tri quatra locket but that wouldn't stop pain but it would hold her seal for longer if she timed it right. In the clearing in the forest, Tenzo and Kakashi were full on sparring by the concentrated and serious looks on their faces, Tenzo was timing his wood release well and Kakashi had his sharingan open and using Lightning Blade a good number of times to counter the wood release.

"Hey guys, why don't you have a break… I've got lunch." Sonea said, stepping into the clearing and side stepping splinters of wood flying everywhere with a smirk and a shaker of her head as she sat down and they joined her and set their food down in the middle as they began to eat happily after saying thank you to Sonea. "Jiraiya and Naruto are moving out tomorrow morning… Would you guys be good to move out this evening?" Sonea asked distractedly and staring at the ground.

"There's no problem there, we'll leave just after nightfall if that's okay with you." Tenzo said, eating a rice ball. Kakashi knocked a dish making it chime loudly and Sonea jumped and looked around with a panicked expression.

"Maa, Sonea, what's wrong, you seem extremely jumpy." Kakashi nudged her with his elbow while Sonea just ignored it and stared out into the forest, leaning her chin in her hand, propped up by her elbow.

"Sorry, I feel uneasy, like we are being watched for a while now… What do you guys think?" She asked, turning her attention to them.

"Whenever we look, there's nothing there and to follow ex ANBU you must be good." Tenzo said, nodding his head with a serious and a slightly pissed off look and Sonea bit her lip in thought.

"Right then we'll leave straight away after lunch." She whispered to them and ate, her eyes still darting around a little as did the other two's eyes. They headed back to the hotel, chasing each other with good moods and got straight to packing as soon as they were in their rooms.

"Do you have any idea who's following us?" Kakashi asked Sonea seriously as they rushed around and packed.

"If I did I would have turned on them and attacked them but I can't take that chance in my state, we just have to move quickly, stay one step ahead and hope we loose them soon when we move now." Sonea replied packing her bags. She was grabbed roughly and turned around to face Kakashi who was seething in his eyes as she stared back, feeling slightly scared by his look.

"Now I know you're lying… You know who is following us so spill the beans." Kakashi warned, still holding her arms so she couldn't escape.

"Fine." She huffed with a big breath. "I came across Itachi and Kisame earlier in our trip… I think Akatsuki are tracking our movements and I feel like I'm leading them right to my doom but by what Itachi said… They already know where all of the jinchuuriki are and their movements and it's worrying me… I'm failing faster than I thought." Sonea said, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, avoiding Kakashi's scolding gaze. She broke out of his hold, feeling guilty and heading over to her bag. "We better get going, the sun's going down." She said, changing her tune and reaching for her bag before her other arm was grabbed and she was pulling into his hold, his lips against hers almost possessively and she kissed back with guilt.

"That's why you came home in such shock a while back… Did he do anything to you?" Kakashi asked with a concerned tone as he brushed her hair back and Sonea was feeling confused.

"N-No he didn't." Sonea stuttered with confusion as his eyes looked up into her eyes and he smiled a little.

"I understand what its like between you and Itachi because the same thing has happened with Sasuke… But it must be even more difficult when he's after your death, so I'm just glad you're okay." Kakashi said softly, searching her face with his eyes.

"I think that near death experience has made you soft Hatake." Sonea mocked with a smirk and he caught her in a headlock.

"Shut up Shadow." He growled out playfully as she tried to escape him, laughing silently with him. Kakashi yelped and let her go when she pinched his ass and she jumped back as he turned around, holding his stinging butt and he pouted with a heavy blush on his mask less face. The whole way he looked made her laugh silently, tears coming to her eyes as she pulled her lips into a thin line to keep the laughter in, her shoulders shaking with the pure force of holding it in. He looked so much like his fourteen year old self again and it just made her extremely happy to see him like that again. "What's so funny?" He asked in amused out rage and Sonea flat out laughed, holding her stomach as she bent over laughing, tears falling down her face covered with mirth. Kakashi's eyes widened in confusion as he blinked a few times and his heart skipped a beat as he let a tender smile play across his lips and his blush deepen.

He hadn't heard her flat out laugh before and it was as enchanting as her normal laugh but there was something pure and untampered with that made him start laughing as well. The sunset light filtering into their room as they laughed, wiping tears of mirth from their eyes, God it felt so good to laugh fully again and with the one they loved. Sonea finally calmed down her laughter with sighs of deep breaths as she wiped away the last few tears from her red cheeks from laughing and massaging the muscle that had gone into a slight spasm from not being used so much in her jaw. She shook her head with a full smile plastered on her face that didn't help the blush on Kakashi's as she stepped up to him, stood on the balls of her feet and hugged him tightly as he returned it with a full smile from him as his jaw was also starting to hurt.

"You're so adorable Kakashi… I haven't laughed like that for decades." She said into his ear and he shivered from her breath against his exposed skin. He pushed her back and pouted, giving up on hiding his blush.

"I'm not adorable… I'm strong and dangerous but adorable?" Kakashi asked with mock hurt and Sonea laughed again and hung her head a little bit before looking back up into his eyes.

"Well you call me cute now don't you?" Sonea questioned playfully as she hung her arms loosely around his neck and his hands sat comfortably on her hips.

"That's different, girls are aloud to be called by such names." Kakashi complained back with a slight whine.

"And where pray tell are these rules written so I can catch up on the times here?" Sonea asked with amusement, raising one eye brow and pouted slightly.

"Icha Icha." Kakashi responded with an eye smile with his real smile and Sonea rested her forehead against his shoulder as she laughed again.

"Only you." She said with some laughter still in her voice as she ran a hand through his hair lovingly and pecked him on the lips before stepping out of his hold and picking up her bag as he did with his and she pulled his mask up before heading to the lounge area to join Tenzo to head out.

They ran at full speed through Yu no Kuni that night as the moon hung low and bright in the night sky, surrounded by blinking stars. Sonea ran up ahead as her red eyes glowed brightly through the night and Kakashi on her right flank and Tenzo on her left just behind her. Kakashi couldn't tear his gaze away from her as they jumped through the trees. She had left her coat off through the humid air of the night as she wore her bikini like top and shorts with her knee high sandals, weapons stuffed and hidden everywhere that was covered. Her hair was loose and down and flew out behind her like a cape being slightly longer now and her skin reflected the moonlight making it look like the whitest of marble, glimmering in the moon light and the glowing red eyes just completed her.

'Beautifully dangerous… Drop dead gorgeous…' Kakashi mused in his mind with a smirk behind his mask feeling a stirring in his groin but quelled the feeling quickly because now was not the time.

"I think we should set up camp in Yu no Kuni's boarders and pass into Yuki no Kuni tomorrow morning." Tenzo said, Kakashi hadn't even noticed when the conversation began.

"What do you think Kakashi?" Sonea asked from up ahead with her captain's voice on meaning she was deep into mission mode again.

"I agree, it'll be safer and wiser." Kakashi agreed with the same type of tone and Sonea nodded before stopping on a branch and pointed below.

"Good choice." Tenzo said, waiting for Kakashi's approval but he was too busy staring at Sonea. He wanted her to stand in that position forever as he watched, she was standing up straight and alert, a perfect line from Shoulder to finger as she pointed down in a slight defensive stance, face completely passive and set in stone… She exuded power and Kakashi was melting under it. "Senpai?" Tenzo called back and Kakashi shook his head and looked at his partner who gestured with a nod of his head towards the clearing.

"Y-Yes seems to be a good place for the night… Let's set up camp." He said, jumping down with the other two as they set up a fire and their bedrolls. They each sat on their beds around the fire, far enough away so they didn't feel its heat as well as Kakashi and Tenzo began to read while Sonea unsealed a scroll in a seal that was on her right had wrist and began writing in it with furrowed brows of concentration. Her two teammates were watching her intensely from behind their books. It was an old white scroll and they could see the enlarging seal on it as well as she wrote down well thought through things… It was older than some of the scrolls in Konoha that the Uchiha and Senju clans kept from the warring states period.

"What's so interesting about me writing?" Sonea asked suddenly, not looking away from what she was writing and making them snap their eyes back to their books and blush.

"Uh… How old is that scroll?" Tenzo asked as they both put down their books after an exchanged look as they turned their interest onto what Sonea was doing.

"It's fifteen years younger than I am…" Sonea said, rolling it back up and looking up seriously at them, holding it securely in her hand. "I completely forgot about it until a while ago when I went to the Nakano shrines just after the chunin exams… Here." She said, throwing it over the fire and Tenzo caught it as Kakashi moved up next to him and they opened it and began to read:

'_Dearest Sonea_

_I am glad that this worked and that I had time to write you a good bye note. You are now the container of the yin chakra of the Jyuubi, please look after it with your life as well as the Bijuu, all nine of them, you are now their mother like I told them and they can feel the comforting familiar energy now radiating out from you and accept it._

_They will need to find their own paths in the world of humans and shinobi and you can't always protect them. If possible in the future find a bonding pair for them to be sealed into so they can protect each other and create what we are now called as jinchuuriki's. _

_I will now explain the reason why sealing the Yin chakra of the Jyuubi into you worked. Your clan had always fought against the Jyuubi before I came along and were exposed to the clouds of chakra it released, causing mutations in your clan. The Jyuubi was a creature that fed off of natural chakra and was a mindless creature that had a big lust for destruction and blood. This is why the Chi clan had blood lust and abilities to do with blood. Your absorption of natural chakra and the combined chakra to activate your demon mode allowed the chakra to accept you__and allow the Yin chakra to manifest in your pentagram as one of your clan's two symbols. And by placing a seal over that, it was sealed. It will be power for you to control if you take it's chakra from it. You will need to fly to the land of dragons, directions will be at the end of my letter._

_Now the seal I have placed on you is very special and was made up on the spot. Using some of your clan's techniques I picked up, This seal depends on peoples decisions and the balance of the world. It is called "The Fate Seal." If the Jyuubi is to be resurrected then the seal will slowly break according to the success of attaining all of the Bijuu (Tailed beasts) as well as the body from the moon. I do not know if anything that I have done will alter you and your abilities in anyway because I will be gone by the time you wake up._

_You must go to the land of dragons as soon as possible and attain the full power of the Jyuubi. Regarding the chain tails you have, there are ten of them representing the Jyuubi's power and until you tame the beast they may be a bit uncontrollable. And the wings you have that I checked with the last of my power looks to be part of the Chi clan's abilities. Just go with the flow and I believe in you to figure this out._

_I will miss you dearly and always watch over you with Natsume and Mika. Please make a tomb somewhere close to home that will be our final resting places as well as a place for future rinnegan holders to discover the world that the future holds for them. Please destroy my rinnegan before you burry me, this will be your last mission from me. Kurama and Gyuuki will explain the rest._

_Love_

_Sensei.'_

Kakashi's and Tenzo's jaws were on the floor as Tenzo dropped the scroll into his lap… There was more written but it held little significance to what they just read. Here in their hands was proof of the Rikudo Sennin, proof that Sonea knew him and he was her sensei, Sonea had a brother and sister as well as proof of what was happening to her seal… It was the full truth of everything they had ever questioned and they were frozen to the spot.

"I have checked those coordinates and there is nothing there as well as it being in Kaminari no Kuni's land… I can't remember shit from that time that scroll was written and as far as I know the Land of Dragons is actually on top of Mount Myoboku yet the coordinates speak a different tune… So now it's just used to write down information on my seal as I go along for future reference as Minato studied my seal and learned a lot about it." Sonea explained with sad frustration.

"Do you know how sought after a scroll like this is?" Kakashi asked with shock and Sonea smiled sadistically.

"Enough to kill… I know perfectly well, it's the only one I keep on me and the rest are with the dragons." Sonea explained, holding out her hands as Tenzo tossed the scroll back and Sonea sealed it away into her right wrist and stared at the fire. "Why don't you two rest first, I'll take the first watch and then I'll wake Tenzo for the second?" Sonea suggested with a forced smile. Her two teammates started at her for a while before nodding and silently falling asleep.

'What am I suppose to do Sensei?' Sonea questioned in her mind as she let her head lull back and stare up at the night sky. 'I've failed you and your wishes so far and I don't know if I can fix them especially now but I can't find the answers.' She mused again and a star blinked in the sky almost like a wink and she sighed with an annoyed pout. 'Yeah, thanks for the help old man.' She said sarcastically and it blinked again almost in mockery. 'I must be loosing my mind.' Sonea said with a slightly comforted smile as she looked back at the fire and poked at it, feeling a bit calmer… Now she knew why Kakashi talked to the memorial stone…


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen

They set out the next morning at a calm pace, heading towards Yuki no Kuni's boarders and you could already feel the temperature changing. It was four hours run or a days walk away so Sonea decided to walk and take the change in temperature slowly as her seal regulated her temperature in extreme cold climates and she didn't know how she would react.

Kakashi and Tenzo read… Sonea wondered how many books they brought along as Kakashi's had changed three times and Tenzo's about five times and she shook her head as she plugged her MP 3 player into her ears and danced along the paths. Kakashi wasn't really reading his book but what was over the edge of it… Sonea. He felt like an obsessive perverted stalker even if she was his girlfriend now he just couldn't stop admiring her, more than he did when he didn't have her.

'Its because you have permission to look now.' His conscience mused but he ignored it…' Maybe I'm going crazy…' He thought to himself.

"Senpai." Tenzo called, snapping Kakashi from his musing to look at him. "If you keep staring like that, people may get the wrong idea…" Tenzo mocked with an amused smile, his voice just above a whisper so Sonea couldn't hear them and Kakashi blushed under his mask and turned back to his book.

"Shut up Tenzo… I know." Kakashi said with a pout to his voice and a blush and Tenzo laughed silently before turning back to his book.

"She is rather enchanting isn't she?" Tenzo mused with a smile, eyes still in his book and Kakashi hummed to agree with him as he focused on the words on the page but it failed miserably and his eyes were back on her again, watching her every movement without him realising it. Music began to reach his ears and her movements became off and Kakashi tilted his head to the side.

"Sonea!" He shouted and she stopped and pulled out her earphones with a questioning and open gaze.

"What?" She asked.

"Your music is too loud, it's affecting your movements." Kakashi whined and Sonea tilted her head with an amused yet confused smile.

"That's… Not my music…" She said, tilting her head in the direction she could hear it coming from. She put her MP 3 player away and gestured with a wave of her hand for them to follow her as they headed towards the music. They stopped in some bushes and crouched down to see a band and another group of kids on the other side in almost like a face off and Sonea blinked… This was the weirdest thing she had ever seen as the music blended yet battled, electro versus rock.

The crowd eventually dispersed and Sonea tilted her head as they all left, sealing their instruments and such into scrolls and walking off until a boy and a girl were left and Sonea stepped out of the bushes before Kakashi could stop her as he fell flat on his face, Tenzo laughed as he helped him up and the followed after her.

"Hey… What just went on here?" Sonea asked them as they turned to face her.

"A rivalry between our schools." The girl answered. She had long orange hair and dark blue eyes and has small stature, wearing netting on her legs up to her ripped jean like pants with three chains hanging off her right hip with a black bra on under long sleeved netting that hung loosely around her just above her naval. She wore heavy and dark make up but it made her features shine through.

"Schools? Are you two perhaps music students of the schools I've heard about up here in Yu?" Sonea asked with excitement.

"Yeah we are." The boy said, he had light blue hair and dark blue eyes, wearing tight jeans and a psycadelic t-shirt full of cool patterns with a wire travelling up to his large green earmuff like headphones, hanging loosely around his neck as well as wearing glasses that looked specifically for something other than seeing. "You must be new here if you haven't heard of the rivalry between them."

"Yeah, we are… So DJ-ing and rock music, completely two different genres, is that why there is such rivalry?" Sonea asked as they began to walk through the forest and Kakashi and Tenzo just followed behind in confusion.

"It's been going on since the two schools opened, the headmasters use to be friends and a part of a band that mixed the two until something happened and the band broke up… They revolutionised music using chakra with instruments and inspired the generations today… Are you a musician by any chance?" The girl asked and Sonea's face lit up.

"It's more of a hobby but I play… I actually own a club in Konohagakure." Sonea said. "What are your names?"

"Akido." The girl said with a wave.

"Amemaru." The boy said.

"Cool, I'm Sonea and this is Kakashi and Tenzo, my travelling companions… So do you two go to the same school?" Sonea asked happily.

"I go to the rock school and Ame goes to the electro-school but it's difficult since we're battling to pay our fees and the whole rivalry thing." Akido explained with some sadness.

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that… So you guys live around here then?" Sonea asked as they came up to a road.

"We actually live there, it's the half way point between the schools and it never gets crossed so our parent's tea shop gets very few customers." Amemaru explained as there was a little western style tea place across the road and Sonea looked at it, debating over something.

"Its more than just a tea shop isn't it?" Sonea asked as they crossed the road to the small teashop.

"Well we were hoping it could be a place the two schools could come together and chill… You know, get along like my brother and I do even if we go to different schools." Amemaru said as he walked up the three steps onto the wooden veranda and held the door open for them and herded them inside. It was a cosy little place with couches grouped together around coffee tables and a small bar with a glass case across it with sandwiches and little snacks in it to be sold with a cash register and the coffee machines behind the little bar on the counter along the wall. Most of it was wooden and the counters had marble counters and the tables and chairs were varnished with a shiny black and the couches were all beige or brown, flowing with the colour scheme. To her left in the adjacent corner was a single stepped stage with instruments sitting there and space off to the left of it for the DJ-ing equipment.

"So what you two are saying is you want the two schools to come together just like the two headmasters of the schools once did with the two different types of music?" Sonea asked, looking around then setting her gaze on the two teens next to her.

"It would be nice but even if we can have separate nights for them would be good enough. We need business and they need a place they can play their music freely because it's the halfway point." An older man said, coming to stand with them and Akido hugged him.

"It's nice to meet you sir, I'm Sonea and this is Kakashi and Tenzo… Your children have been telling us about the things that happen around here and I was wondering if you would let me try to help your business and the two schools, just like your talented children want." Sonea said, bowing with Kakashi and Tenzo following her with a bow as well.

"It is nice to meet you, my name's Hotaru and my wife who is in the back is Kindra. We've tried everything but with being the halfway point… It's difficult." He said with a slight sad sigh.

"I see… Well it's worth a shot anyway… I have an idea but I'll need to know when the next riff off is so I can draw the attention here." Sonea said with a determined smile.

"There's one everyday with the students at the same time as today." Amemaru said and Sonea punched her palm.

"Just leave this to me but we'll need a lace to stay for the night. If this doesn't work I'll pay for the room but if it does then we can consider ourselves equal… What do you say?" Sonea suggested, holding out her hand to Hotaru. He hesitated before sharing a look with his children who seemed to encourage him and he nodded before grabbing Sonea's hand with a smile.

"It's a deal… Akido will show you to your room… I hope you three don't mind sharing one room?" He asked and Sonea shook her head.

"It's no problem, we'll manage, thank you for your hospitality Hotaru-san." Sonea said with a slight bow as Akido took them to their rooms.

"Do we really have time for this?" Tenzo asked as they were settling into their room with two double beds in it and a bathroom connected to it.

"It's one day Tenzo and a comfy place to stay for the night plus those schools interest me and Star and Seth have always wanted to see them so they'll be helping me out tomorrow. We'll have this place pumping quickly then we can be on our way again… Don't worry so much." Sonea said, lying down on one of the beds after taking her shoes and weapons off.

Tenzo didn't say anything and just went about his business as did Kakashi as he relaxed next to Sonea on the bed, reading his usual books and Sonea glared at it, hoping it would spontaneously burst into flames.

"Not a fan of Icha Icha anymore?" Kakashi asked with sarcasm and Sonea just growled.

"Well you did break your promise on it… I still owe you a castration." Sonea said, turning to lie on her side.

"True but I think that, that promise is null and avoid now… Am I right?" He asked, eye smiling down at her and she blushed a little.

"Damn you Hatake Kakashi." She growled, flipping onto her other side to ignore him and she felt the bed shake from his laughter.

The next morning, the team sat in one of the little clusters of couches while drinking coffee and tea since school wasn't out until the afternoon anyway. Sonea held a nice warm mug in her hands and ended her first sip with a content sigh.

"So what exactly is planned for today?" Tenzo asked, breaking the content silence and Sonea groaned a little, enjoying the relaxing scenery.

"I'll summon Star and Seth, practise, play for the student to lure them here and make them see that the two can co exist together then we cane leave them in Star's and Seth's capable hands while we get moving again… I know, it still feels like we're being followed doesn't it?" Sonea asked, looking over her mug while taking another sip.

"It does but it also seems near impossible to loose them which is slightly infuriating." Tenzo expressed, also sipping his tea.

"And intriguing… If they know everything about the jinchuuriki and bijuu then why are the following us?" Kakashi added in.

"You're right… I think if they knew about me they would have come after me instead of nine other people plus I'm controllable to a point but to handle nine at a time… Perhaps they're just watching the village's movements concerning their jinchuuriki to make things easier." Sonea said with a shrug.

"That's a huge possibility…" Kakashi mused, sipping his tea through his mask.

"It's one hour to go Sonea-san." Kindra called and Sonea nodded and put her cup down as she stood up and stretched before performing a few hand seals and out popped Seth and Star, hanging on each other with a huge metal suitcase.

"We're ready when you are Sonea." Star said happily, leaning into her boyfriend's arm draped over her shoulders as she held his hand.

"Cool , get it all set up on that little stage over there then we'll have a quick sound check and begin." Sonea said, pointing towards the little stage as the couple headed over and Sonea sat down again.

"They make a cute couple." Tenzo mused with sickly sarcasm and Sonea smirked.

"Yeah, Star nearly took Kakashi a few years ago." Sonea mused with her hands linked behind her head and her eyes closed and she heard the distinctive sound of tea being spat out and laughed silently.

"No way, really?" Kakashi asked with surprise as he cleaned himself up.

"Yup and nearly succeeded at the after war party at my club if it wasn't that you were hanging around me the whole night." Sonea said with a smile at him as she sat up and headed over to the stage to finish setting up for a sound check. Kakashi's jaw hung open as he stared after her in shock and surprise, sure Star was pretty and unique like Sonea but she was too much like the old boy obsessed Sakura and Kakashi couldn't stand an extremely clingy girl that's why he likes Sonea but then he just snorted the thought away and returned to what was left of his tea.

Sound check went by easily and soon enough Amemaru and Akido came in and gave them the signal as Akido took her place behind the drums and Amemaru moved next to Seth for the DJ-ing section and the song started up with both Sonea and Star playing the guitar and singing the song at full blast and soon enough the students reluctantly filed in and split down the centre of the room, sitting rigidly.

The rivalry was quickly forgotten as Akido, Amemaru, Seth, Star and Sonea began pulling people up to take their places and play their own songs and blended them together and the room began to mix… Hotaru and Kindra were running off of their feet as they had to keep up with the orders by the time the sun was going down… It was a huge success.

'_I'll leave this place and its management in your hands but we've got to get going… I'll see you two soon.'_ Sonea alerted Star and Seth through their connection and she received their positive feed back before heading over to the corner of the room to save her teammates.

She grabbed their hands with a smile as they headed out of the door and into the night in good moods to continue with their journey to Yuki no Kuni and into Kaminari no Kuni to find the last four jinchuuriki.

Of coarse Yuki no Kuni was freezing and snowing at this time of the year, their winter but Sonea never expected for such cold weather to affect her hot temperature body in such a way. No amount of running could keep her warm enough and she collapsed once, entering the first stages of hypothermia and the team had to stop as she had passed out from her seal, unconsciously working to keep her warm like before as well as the cold.

"Dammit, Tenzo, she's shivering." Kakashi said with worry as he scooped the shivering girl in his arms out of the snow and Tenzo nodded and formed some hand seals.

"Wood release; Serial pillar house jutsu." Tenzo said quickly and created a wooden house into the snow and they moved inside quickly. Tenzo performed a few earth jutsus to wind proof the house and keep the heat in while Kakashi started a fire in the make shift fireplace and lay Sonea down with a blanket in front of it. "She is becoming weaker by the day, which is worrying." Tenzo said, moving next to Kakashi who was sitting by Sonea with her front facing the fire and her back facing them. Kakashi nodded sadly as he pushed a few strands of her hair away from her face.

"A strong bloodline and a weak body is the worst situation a shinobi could hope for. And on top of that she can control the Jyuubi's power but it seems to weaken her further every time she uses it. I think we are at least a day or two walk until we get to Kaminari no Kuni but it may take longer if Sonea keeps reacting like this. And she is unable to take care of herself since she is still suffering from the after effects of the chakra virus a few months back… I don't understand how she puts herself through this type of pain and suffers alone." Kakashi said with a slight pained voice as he watched the fire flicker different colours across Sonea's pale but slightly tanned skin.

"Being the student of the Rikudo Sennin must have been tough and that is probably the reason why she suffers in silence. Watching life pass you by… It's a true wonder how she hasn't snapped yet." Tenzo said and Kakashi looked at him with slight confusion. Tenzo sighed as he decided to elaborate. "She was okay when we left nearly a year ago, but when I was watching Naruto, I began to watch her to, falling back into my old ANBU ways. She talked briefly about the last ANBU mission she went on and showed signs of post mission stress but she seems to switch completely to her happy side. In other words, she is suffering badly, physically and emotionally." Tenzo concluded and Kakashi nodded sadly.

"You're right, I've noticed it too…" Kakashi began before his attention got drawn to the shuffling of Sonea.

"Pain is there to be worked through so that is what I'm doing, I've never let it stop me before, not even when I had been blown to bits, I stayed conscious." She said tiredly and looked at them with what seemed like an emotionless face. "Kakashi has seen the true me once and I don't think anyone else would like to see it." She said, turning her face into the warmth of the fire.

"I have?" Kakashi asked and Sonea nodded.

"After Minato's and Kushina's wedding, in the training field. I lost it, remember." Sonea said, wrapping herself more tightly in the blanket.

"That was your chakra?!" Tenzo asked with amazement and panic as he remembered that day and Kakashi and the Yondaime went to sort it out.

"It was Sonea, so now you know the full extent of the reason we gave to the jonin that day about that chakra, Sonea's identity had to be protected... So this is where Naruto learned to hide his emotions so well." Kakashi said, running his hand through her black hair.

"Yes, the same strategy but for different reasons. I'm surprised you have seen through his little façade Hatake." Sonea said with a slight smirk that seemed dark and dangerous. Something predatorial seemed to wash over Kakashi and it made him fall for Sonea harder, if that was even possible. "We need to get moving again while the sun is out." Sonea said, shifting to sit up slowly.

"You look tired, why don't we set out tomorrow again?" Tenzo suggested.

"And risk it being a full out snow storm tomorrow, we can't… We set out with the good weather and get out of this damn country while we still can." Sonea said as she wrapped the blanket around her securely and they headed out into the snow covered ground with the sun shinning still as Tenzo released his jutsus, erasing their presence as they set off again while the weather was still good, only having to stop one more time as a storm came up and Sonea was showing signs of weakness again.

A/N yeah, I was feeling generous today so I gave a four chapter update but in return I'd like a review or two… Please? Maybe I'll post some more tomorrow :D


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen

They ran as fast as possible and made it through Yuki on Kuni within three days of travel and were currently sitting in a small restaurant in the warmer Kaminari no Kuni, eating, drinking and resting before they got down to the job just to refuel after the cold and harsh weather.

Sonea slurped down bowl after bowl of noodles and sake after sake to get a warm feeling again. Kakashi and Tenzo just watched her with wide eyes at the speed ten bowls passed by and five bottles of sake.

All of a sudden, Sonea's head snapped up with wide eyes and noodles hanging out of her mouth and she began to look around the small café and slurping up the noodles quickly. Kakashi and Tenzo found this very cute as they tried to hold in their laughter at the girl who now looked like a meercat.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi finally asked.

"Jinchuuriki." She said and their expressions turned serious.

"Where?" Tenzo asked, also looking around now.

"The Kumo kunoichi with the blonde hair… I think." Sonea said as they all took turns looking at her.

"How are we going to do this, she has teammates all around her and the odd ninja here and there throughout the radius of the café." Kakashi said as he searched for presences. Sonea began to smirk and Kakashi and Tenzo knew that mischievous look.

"She's the only female around and she'll react the way I want her to… Just remember to play along and I don't mean anything I say within the next few minutes." She said looking at both of them as serious as she can before she took a lot of short breaths and began to cry. She stood up suddenly and pointed a weak and accusing finger at Kakashi as more tears fell.

"How could you leave me! And for another man. You said you love me and I stupidly believed you because you were so nice after my last break-up but you just wanted to get into my pants. But I should have guessed you were gay by the tight… pants you… wear." Sonea chocked out and ran to the bathroom with tears running down her face. Kakashi was dumbstruck as he tried to go after her but Tenzo caught his hand and hastily pulled him back down next to him, leaned in to him and whispered.

"Remember, she told us to play along and it's working." Tenzo said as they got a filthy look from the blonde kunoichi who followed after Sonea into the bathroom.

As soon as that bathroom door closed behind her and she got into a stall, she packed out into tearful laughter. She changed her laughter slightly to make it sound like she was crying as she felt Yugito's presence get closer to her. She soon heard the bathroom door swing open and a soft knocking against her door.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked softly. Sonea was forcing back her smile and got back into her sad mood as she sniffled and opened the door and looked at Yugito with red eyes and had some tissue in her hands. She shook her head as a no and began to cry again as Yugito hugged her and hushed her down.

"What am I suppose to do know… I don't have anyone to protect me." Sonea whispered as she rested her head on Yugito's shoulder.

"What do you mean, maybe I can protect you." She whispered as she ran her hand through Soneas hair.

"You can't you need to protect yourself, I can feel that you're a jinchuuriki like me and that is what they're after." She pulled away with suspicion and studied Sonea with a guarded expression. Sonea reflected a blank and non-threatening expression back.

"What's going on here? Who are you?" She asked defensively as she placed her hand on her kunai pouch.

"I have come to warn you of a threat to the entire world and it involves all of the bijuu and their jinchuuriki's. An organisation named Akatsuki are seeking to resurrect the Jyuubi and destroy the world. They will kill you for your bijuu and I am in the same boat as you. They are a group of nine and travel in groups of two with black coats with red clouds on them and all of them are S-ranked criminals. And if you don't believe me just ask the niibi and she will tell you everything about me. Your Raikage has been alerted as well and I ask you to warn his partner, Killer B in case as well. I apologise for the way I pulled you away like that but it was the best so as not to cause a scene, it was nice meeting you Nii Yugito and please look after Matatabi for me." Sonea finished calmly, stepped around her and left with Kakashi and Tenzo quickly.

"That was easier than expected." Sonea said as they were flying across the trees at full speed.

"That was quiet a show you put on Sonea, you should have seen Senpai's face… So would you like to explain to us what the plan is now." Tenzo asked as they all focused on what was in front of them as they moved at top speed.

"She was quite shocked so I want to leave Kaminari no Kuni as soon as possible especially if the Raikage catches wind of our suspicious presence from Yugito. We are heading for the docks and leaving for Kirigakure as soon as possible. The Raikage is someone I think we would lose to, believe me, I know. The only one who could go toe to toe with him was Minato and his Hiraishin." Sonea said with a bit of panic in her voice.

"What about you?" Tenzo asked with a spark of curiosity.

"For brute strength and power, maybe but he has me outnumbered with speed unless I use the Jyuubi chakra to the full extent, which I can't. We should reach the docks by… Never mind, we need to move get on." Sonea said, frustrated. Kaminari had always made her nervous but it could have been the few times she had come up against that current Raikage who left her for dead on all occasions.

"What about the other jinchuuriki you said was in the country?" Kakashi asked.

"Killer Bee… Raikage's adoptive little brother… Do I need to say anymore?" Sonea questioned a little breathlessly, looking back at him seriously.

"You're failing your mission otherwise." Kakashi stated coolly and Sonea rolled her eyes.

"If by the relationship I've heard about a Raikage and his brother is as it says, I have no doubt A himself would give his life to save his little brother and so the Hachibi is in the safest hands right now… You know how they easily rival Konoha." Sonea stated with annoyance as she focused ahead again as the scenery blurred by. "This is to also partially throw our pursuers off as well… Our movements have been to routine and so they'll need to recover with this sudden movement and so we should be able to loose them… Now shut up and concentrate so we can get to the docks by night fall, they'll be at least a day behind us." Sonea ordered moodily as her two teammates kept quiet for the rest of the gruelling trip to the docks.

There was one last boat leaving that night and luckily to Mizu no Kuni that Sonea took straight away even if it was just a plain sailing ship, it was good enough to get to where she wanted to be and lay content in the room, completely occupied by a bed as she set her bag down on the shelf above the head of the bed and lay back, nostalgia sinking back to her as she linked her hands behind her head and stared up at the dimly lit wood ceiling, quickly falling asleep from stress, pain and exhaustion from the trip in the snow.

_Red and swirling black tomoes, activated lazily in the eye of the Uchiha crest. The mangekyo sharingan is something Sonea had witnessed in that cursed clan many times and each more frightening than the last… _

_The tomoes spread like water through the eye to three points and swirl round, touching the next point over as it warped away…_

Sonea opened her red eyes lazily and blinked up to the ceiling she fell asleep to and knew she hadn't slept to long but that dream was odd yet strangely beautiful. The sharingan was something she's never thought of as beautiful but something was different to how the one she had seen in her dreams to Itachi's and Madara's she had witnessed in the past, she even got the honour of seeing Shisui's once on an ANBU mission she was with him on. The eyes were always divided into three in a way and swirled into itself intricately yet contained so much power when used right.

The sail down to Mizu no Kuni would take roughly a week with good sailing and it was a good season to sail down there as the currents were flowing the right way. She stood up and stretched, looking down the corridors of the ship and headed down the one she came down earlier that headed to the deck of the ship. It was just sunrise outside and Sonea jumped up onto the mast and sat comfortably, watching the sun coming up over the blue water and smiled slightly… This is why the revival of the Jyuubi mustn't come to pass. Even though ninja kill each other and such it was still a pretty good life and she couldn't imagine it any other way… Well maybe with peace and communication between the countries but one step at a time would do for her.

She wiped some blood across her right ankle and out popped a pencil bag and a sketch pad as she opened to an open page and began to draw the sharingan she saw in her dreams the night before as it called to her somehow with it's intricacy and perfection.

Kakashi had woken up to movement around the cabins and decided to get up anyway as his internal body clock woke him every morning, something no shinobi could ever get rid of. He stretched, padding down the halls and taking a general look around the ship and greeting the crew that hurried by. He reached the deck and basked in the sun's warmth for a while with his eyes closed and sighed as he saw the sun fully in the sky already. He wondered where the object of his eye and heart was when a movement from the mast caught his attention as it fell and landed gracefully in a crouch and stood up again in a full yawn. He couldn't help but smile at how cute she was as he headed over to her and saw her stuff still sitting up on the mast.

"Did you fall asleep up there?" He asked with amusement as he came to stand next to her with his hands in his pockets.

"…Maybe…" She said in a slight singsong voice and Kakashi shook his head. Her head shot up when a large wind wafted by and her eyes widened. "My sketchpad!" She cried out as she was already running underneath it, her wings and tail forming on instinct as she put her foot onto the railing and took off up towards her pad and dropped back down to the water and Kakashi rushed over to the railing to find her standing on the water inspecting her pad.

"You may want to get back onto the deck soon before we leave you behind." Kakashi called, grabbing her attention back as she took a slight run and flew back onto the railing in a crouch and her wings and tail folded back into her seal again as she jumped back onto the deck on her feet again. She was dusting off a page and Kakashi took her pad gently and looked at it with surprise and shock.

"What's this?" He asked, pointing to what looked like a sharingan.

"It's the next stage to the sharingan, the mangekyo sharingan. I had a dream about them last night but this one caught my eye, I've never seen it before." She said, leaning over his shoulder to look at her masterpiece.

"Mangekyo huh?" Kakashi wondered out loud as his fingertips traced across the circular drawing. "Why haven't I heard of this before?" He asked her.

"Well it was suppose to be legendary since the last one to have one was Uchiha Madara but it seems to have come back in the later generations. Uchiha Shisui and Itachi each have their mangekyo however there is a risk to his eye…" She said, setting her gaze on his.

"A risk?" He asked, dropping the pad to hang in his hand next to him as he faced her fully.

"When the mangekyo is used to often, the owner of those sharingan eventually begin to go blind, sharingan or not and there is nothing they can do that I've heard about that is…" Sonea said with some sadness thinking of her old student and best friend. "It's why I've been working your sharingan so hard through this trip… I think you may be able to activate it and gain a new ability with it since Obito was a close relative to both Shisui and Itachi, I'm sure your eye has the ability and after doing a little studying, you've also reached the unfortunate requirements to activate it as well." Sonea explained, picking Kakashi's interest up as she jumped back up the mast and he sat down comfortably with her.

"What is that unfortunate requirement that I've completed if I may ask?" Kakashi asked carefully, setting her drawing pad down under her pencil case.

"You have to kill your best friend… I think that is why Sasuke nearly killed Naruto at the Valley of the End if I think about it now…" Sonea explained, looking out at the sea as a steady wind passed them by.

"That's a terrible requirement… Do you know how they can get rid of their blindness?" Kakashi asked and Sonea shook her head.

"I didn't read that far at the time into it but I doubt you'd loose the eye since your situation is special… But first we need to see if you're actually able to activate it but that'll have to wait since we're on a ship and we don't know what your mangekyo power is so we better not risk it." She explained, meeting his gaze again.

"That… Is a good idea." He said with an eye smile making Sonea smile.

"Kakashi and Sonea sitting in a tree… K.I.S.S.I.N.G… First comes love… Then comes marriage… Then comes a baby in a golden carriage." Tenzo sang from the deck and Kakashi groaned with annoyance and Sonea rolled her eyes with an amused smile.

"First of all." Sonea said, jumping down in front of Tenzo, listing on her fingers. "We've kissed, many times. Second of all we've been in love for forever. Third, We're practically married with our blood bond and lastly don't you think I'm a bit young to get pregnant Tenzo?" Sonea asked with a dangerous smirk.

"Senpai…" Tenzo whined with fear as he held his hands up and backed up away from Sonea and Kakashi jumped down next to her.

"You got yourself into this position Tenzo so I suggest you start running… Oh wait I forgot, we're at sea so swim I guess?" Kakashi wondered with his whole insides laughing as Sonea stalked up to him and he turned and ran into the lower decks again and they laughed.

"Breakfast?" Kakashi asked Sonea, entwining their fingers together and touching her jaw gently and she leaned into it, eyes shining with love and adoration as she looked back up at him with a smile.

"Sure… As long as Tenzo's on the menu." She said with a grin and Kakashi pecked her before leading her down into the cabins again.

"Anything for you." He said with a slight laugh as they followed the smell of food.

Kakashi returned to the deck after breakfast to retrieve Sonea's drawing tools still on the mast and jumped up to see it had turned to a random page with a poem on it as he began to read:

_When Angels Cry_

_Why am I in this state?_

_Crying while I'm flying?_

_I feel like there's no way out_

_Now more than ever_

_I'm failing right now_

_And stuck in the middle of it all_

_Is this what happens to people?_

_They find their strength and happiness_

_But get engulfed by it all_

_With no one to guide you_

_How can this be life?_

_You die by your own demise_

_I just don't think I can live this way_

_But I have no other choice_

_Live or Die_

_Do or Die_

_Why is death so inviting?_

_It sounds peaceful and free_

_But you sacrifice to get there_

_Why do my Angels cry?_

_I've sacrificed everything already _

_So how can you ask me for more?_

_You know my story_

_And how these times have drained my energy _

_I'm running on fumes_

_It's irreplaceable_

_My soul could probably go on_

_But the rest of me…_

_Might not make the journey._

Kakashi held the pad in his shaking hand as he stood on the mast and wiped at his wet face. It seems as though no one really knows the true Sonea inside and out, including her circle but maybe he could try.

"You know…" A voice called from behind him as he jumped and turned to face Sonea, standing with one foot in front of the other and her arms crossed as her black hair swayed in the wind. "Its not polite to read through someone's personal writings." She said coolly and Kakashi noted the complete blank look that chilled him to the bone.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, it was open to this page." He said, passing her, her things as she bent down and placed it into a seal on her right ankle once again before standing up again and studying him with a calculating look. "It was a beautiful poem by the way."

"Thanks… It's one of my favourites that I've written." She said as the air between them became awkward.

"You still owe Tenzo some payback." Kakashi offered, making her smile and the awkwardness just about disappear as he jumped down after her to find Tenzo.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter twenty

It was the last night and the crew celebrated with a small party and Tenzo joined in happily with drinking and singing of old folk songs that sailors believe. Kakashi slipped out when he realised that Sonea wasn't there. The moon hung low and big in the sky as he walked out onto the deck. He stopped very quickly to see Sonea dancing in the moonlight in a pair of shorts and the bikini like top. She had her earphones in and had her eyes closed. Kakashi didn't notice the tears coming out as she moved and the light of the moon was like a spotlight against her creamy but tanned skin. Her voice echoed into the silent and still night as words of sorrow swept around and pierced his ears and heart as she let her pain seep into her voice and her movements. Kakashi was stunned by the beautiful but broken person in front of him as he saw the real Sonea for the first time but he was snapped out of it quickly when her movements faltered and her voice cracked brokenly and she placed the back of her hand against her mouth as she walked to the railing and looked up at the moon. Kakashi moved up next to her and stood next to the broken girl in silent comfort, keeping his gaze on the moon so she didn't feel so weak.

"You know, living this life use to scare me to death but now death is scaring me to live but this one seems inevitable this time. It almost seems unfair but it is unfair that I have gotten to live for so long. I'm just fates bitch, nothing more." She spat out as anger took over her sadness. It was silent for a while as Sonea clenched her fists against the railing.

"I have been through so much in my short life compared to yours but there will always be one thing I will always be afraid of with you around." Kakashi spoke his fears for the first time.

"What is that, if you don't mind me knowing." Sonea asked, still with a slight broken voice.

"I'm afraid of growing old, not being as flexible anymore, having to give up what I have spent my whole life living up to, then before this started happening to you, it was the fear of leaving you behind while you had to continue to suffer while I let my suffering go with my final breaths… I even started to hope I would die in a mission so I wouldn't have to get to that point." Kakashi confessed with a lot of force.

"I would have died a long time ago, and believe me, I get to the point before I can forget the pain and pass on easily, instead it holds me down on that pain and the suffering continues… But we carry on living because we don't want to leave our precious people behind like ours have, to leave them to suffer like we, ourselves use to when an important person dies. It's too selfish and so we live to protect them… The Will of Fire burns brightly." Sonea said, taking Kakashi's hand and entwining their fingers together. "And so we push on through that pain so that we can save other people from the same pain but sometimes we fail and it hurts us more. Face our fears head on and live for our precious people." Sonea said with a stronger voice as she squeezed Kakashi's hand and he returned it and they watched the night pass by with them comforting each other from their fears as the awkwardness finally and completely dissipated and he gripped her hand gently in his.

Kakashi watched her in the corner of his eyes and could see there was so much more she was hiding from the world about herself and her past whether it was done consciously or not. He felt naïve compared to the old wisdom her eyes held for someone who looked so young and it reminded him a lot of Naruto. He smirked a little to himself at the age difference between them but then rolled his eyes at the silly thought when she was hundreds of years older which in a way he found hard to believe but he could see clearly with his sharingan no transformation jutsu like the one Tsunade held on herself, no this was her true identity, somehow hidden so carefully through time yet she probably effected ninety-nine percent of what had happened and it was a task he set out to find out more about but not now, he still had time, they both did and so he enjoyed the swishing noise of the water underneath them and the bright moon low and bright in the sky as they thought to themselves.

Sonea seemed back to normal the next morning as they slung Tenzo between them who was suffering from a huge hang over from the night before as they headed off the ship and onto the dock, heading in the direction of what Kakashi could make out as Kirigakure.

"Are we heading where I think we are?" Kakashi asked carefully as he kept his gaze ahead of them along the wet and stony path in the gloomy country.

"I wouldn't be taking us this way if it wasn't my intention." She answered coolly, eliciting a surprised flinch from Tenzo making them drop his arms as he stood wobbly but with panic as they turned to face their companion.

"Are you insane? We'll be recognised immediately and killed?" Tenzo asked with panic and Sonea raised an amused eyebrow at him.

"Do you really think I'm that stupid? I have a favour owing to me by someone who can help us out and we'll be perfectly fine and we'll reach Kiri by the afternoon latest so just follow my lead and trust me… Have I ever steered you wrong Tenzo?" Sonea asked sweetly as she continued down the path with a wave over her shoulder in an almost care free manner but as they two followed on behind, they could see the tense muscles in her back meaning she wasn't 100% sure herself. They continued on in silence as Sonea lead the way and ready for any type of welcoming they could be walking right into.

"State your identities and purpose." The Kiri nin asked at the gates with his partner as they stood defensively with their hands on their holsters in front of Kirigakure's gates, clearly not trusting them right away and Sonea sighed.

"I request to see the Gondaime Mizukage Terumi Mei, an old ally and friend of mine… You know I speak the truth." Sonea spoke to the guards in another sort of language she knew only the rebels used and she picked it up during her short time with them. They seemed weary of her and slightly taken back before the taller of the two motioned for them to follow him through the city as they kept close together but not to close as people stared at them in the streets and Sonea ignored them but Kakashi and Tenzo got a little agitated, being in another hidden village without their Kage's or the country's Kage request, for all they knew this could be a trap.

They reached a familiar building like their own Hokage's Tower and headed up the stares behind the guard who motioned for them to wait outside with the ANBU luring around in the shadows tensely and it took all of Kakashi's and Tenzo's efforts not to react in any manner. The guard knocked at the door and they heard a 'come in' after a few ruffling papers and the guard opened the door and went inside the room while they waited in the corridor. A while later the guard returned and gestured for them to enter the Mizukage's office to reveal a slightly frazzled Mei. Mei flew over her desk and piles of paper and enveloped Sonea in a bone-crushing hug.

"Mei… Can't breath." Sonea wheezed and unwrapped herself from the red haired woman. She stepped back with a slight sheepish look on her face.

"I thought I'd never see you again Sonea Storm Shadow… You know I should kill all three of you right now?" She asked with a dangerous smirk and Sonea smirked back. "Especially Sharingan no Hatake Kakashi." Mei said appreciatively, eyeing him as he refused to squirm under her gaze and Sonea held her hand up, pointing at her.

"Whoa, hold your hoarse', the silver haired one is mine so hands off sister. Besides, you owe me a favour plus you know your village could never hold me down, I know them too well anyway." Sonea said with an arrogant shrug but it contained some laughter to it and Mei shook her head with amusement. Sonea eyed the paperwork over crowding the desk behind Mei and smiled, glad she wasn't in that position. "Looking for some time away from paperwork?" She asked calmly and Mei sighed.

"I don't know how Yagura kept up with all of it." She mused sadly, looking back at it through the corner of her eye.

"Remember, he was being controlled so he never notice and probably never did it anyway, it is mostly a waste of time anyway." Sonea said, pulling Mei's attention back to her as they grinned mischievously at each other.

"Ditch Ao?" She asked and Sonea smiled and held out her arm to the Mizukage who hooked hers with hers as they walked out of the office like two best friends with a confused Kakashi and Tenzo following behind.

"So, the brunette is free?" Mei whispered to Sonea, looking back slightly at the two men behind them. Sonea rolled her eyes and nodded and smiled at herself as they entered a bar and sat down with Kakashi in a corner then Sonea, Mei and Tenzo who kept his distance as they all ordered their drinks and the two men just watched the close interaction between the two girls with amused confusion.

"So, why have you returned Sonea Storm Shadow, I thought our alliance has been completed, I should kill all three of you right now since you're in our bingo books." Mei said, getting right to business as usual when she drank.

"I have been warning the jinchuuriki's, I suppose you have received Jiraiya's warning." Sonea said just as serious and drinking her sake.

"I have. I have lost Utakata after he killed his sensei and we have hunter nin trying to bring him back for his own safety, as for the sanbi…" She trailed off as she took another shot of sake.

"So you can't find it?" Sonea asked. Tenzo and Kakashi were watching on as they talked like old friends and business partners and they knew they were missing something big.

"I've had hunter nin looking for it but we can't find it anywhere after Yagura, it just seems like it disappeared. It should be resurrected by now." Mei said with slight worry on her face.

"Dammit!… Okay, thanks for your help Mei, that is all I wanted to know." Sonea said, finishing her sake.

"Would one of you two like to explain why you are so buddy-buddy?" Kakashi finally asked with slight annoyance. Sonea smirked and so did Mei as they ordered another bottle of sake each.

"Remember when team seven went for the mission in the Land of waves and I had my own mission…" Sonea asked Kakashi and he nodded with intrigue. " I came to help the rebels as the jinchuuriki for the sanbi was being manipulated who happened to be the Yondaime Mizukage. I actually ended up killing him and unfortunately the sanbi in the process." Sonea said with a smile as she finished her sake in one go.

"You killed a Kage?" Tenzo asked in awe and Mei chose the time to move in closer to him.

"Yeah, I was actually hoping to save him from the manipulation but he got to much for me to handle and I had to kill him, the manipulator got away unfortunately and Mei took over as Mizukage." Sonea said, finishing off Mei's sake. "So, I hope you don't mind us staying in your village for a while, while I track down these last two bijuu, do you Mei?" Sonea asked with a smirk as she saw how uncomfortable Tenzo was and how distracted Mei was with him.

"Nope, stay as long as you want." Mei said with a purr and Tenzo fell off his stool and quickly recovered, mumbling that he needed the bathroom and took off. Kakashi began to laugh and turned his attention back to his forgotten drink.

"Mei-sama!" An angry and familiar voice shouted, successfully making the whole bar come to a stand still and making the two girls flinch, knowing they were caught. The people parted as they had a direct sight to the door to see Ao standing there with his arms crossed and another younger man standing next to him as both Sonea and Kakashi noted the sword he was carrying immediately.

"Should we try ditching him again?" Sonea whispered to Mei as they ducked like two scolded puppies by the bar trying to ignore the slight murderous intent coming from Ao as Kakashi watched on with amusement, a completely different side yet again of Sonea which was greatly amusing.

"It's impossible, he's gotten good with that eye of his you know." Mei said with a sigh as they turned slowly to face their doom. Sonea saw something flash through the younger man's eyes and in a second, sword clashed with her sleeve blade in the middle of the club. "Chojuro! Stand down, they're allies." Mei ordered walking with power radiating from her as she walked towards the two.

"My Lady?" The teen asked with confusion as he removed his blade from Sonea's and stood calmly as Sonea re absorbed the blade and also stood calmly.

"I shall explain later but for now I must get back to my duties." Mei said with a sigh as she turned to face Sonea again with some regret.

"Don't think you're getting away from this either Sonea." Ao warned and Sonea looked around Chojuro at Ao with a raised eyebrow, in a way challenging him to try. The bar began with a hum of conversation over her name, famous for saving the war stricken town and she was well known for helping out even if she was from Konoha.

"Sonea? I have no idea who you're talking about sir… Ookami, grab Neko and let's go, we've bothered the Mizukage enough for the time being." Sonea said calmly, diffusing the situation calmly as Kakashi noted the situation and went to the bathroom to find Tenzo as she stood calmly with the group.

"Do you need a place to stay?" Mei asked quietly as the bar went back to normal, still weary of the four of them.

"We'll be fine on our own, you've paid back your debt with information and not flat out killing us, don't worry, we'll be out of your hair quickly." Sonea stated calmly as Tenzo and Kakashi joined up with her again.

"Come and visit me when you can." Mei said as Sonea bowed slightly and the three left the bar and Sonea's trio headed out into the town shortly afterwards to find a place to stay for the time being. Kakashi had filled Tenzo in about everything in the bathroom as they walked silently behind the brooding Sonea who had her hands stuffed into her pockets and walking with a purpose.

"So you're pretty famous here…" Kakashi began carefully and she sighed as her shoulders slumped slightly.

"Famous for killing a Kage, what a title." She said sadly and kicked a rock as they walked. "It was such a stricken village and tried to make me Mizukage even though I was already a Konoha shinobi and everyone knew it and that's where Mei came in with her kekkei genkai and toura, she was a perfect candidate and passed it on, knowing my presence would vanish within the next few years like usual." Sonea explained, looking up into the cloudy sky.

"A fragment?" Kakashi asked as the two guys walked up next to her.

"The missing one." She said, tilting her head to the side to give him a gloomy smile. "Let's find a place to stay before this storm breaks." She said, picking up her pace and attitude like a switch again as they headed for the closest inn or hotel to stay for a while.

They found two rooms to stay in for the time being as they settled in for a while and Sonea twirled her pencil around in her fingers, resting her cheek in her palm as she stared at the rain patting against the window past the desk in front of her, covered with her drawing tools and her sketch pad of the sharingan she drew days before. She debated on adding to it or just starting a new drawing all together again when there was a knock at her door by a familiar chakra signature and she said for him to enter.

"How much history have you actually altered?" The familiar voice asked as he moved silently across her room and sat on her bed that was next to the small desk.

"Too much… starting from the warring states period." She said with furrowed brows as she spun her chair 90 degrees to look at Kakashi who was regarding her carefully.

"You're frustrated aren't you?" He asked and she sighed, throwing her pencil on the table and slumping back into her chair.

"You have no idea…" She groaned out as she stared up at the ceiling with her arm draped across her forehead.

"Want to go for a walk?" He suggested and she sat up in her chair and looked at him with slight confusion.

"Have you not noticed the weather?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and he chuckled slightly.

"I really don't mind, I've been in worse." He chuckled out. She smiled and stood up and held out her hand to him as he took it and she pulled him up but didn't let go. They headed out into the steady pouring rain and Sonea stood in the rain and closed her eyes as she took a deep breath and released it as the sky rumbled with the lightning striking in the distance.

"How much could I confuse the people of Mizu if I changed their weather patterns?" She asked with mischief as they walked hand in hand through the slightly deserted streets.

"Probably a lot… Don't you like storms?" He asked with a smile under his mask.

"I love them but a lot of people don't, why do you think Konoha has always had calm storms even during typhoon season?" She asked and it clicked in his head.

"Actually no now that I think about it, Konoha has never had a bad storm that I can remember… Sure it rained hard but that was about it." Kakashi explained and she nodded with a hum of thought.

"I tend to cause more violent ones most of the time and I have to diffuse the situation hence my storm control jutsu… So why did you want to go for a walk anyway?" She asked, moving onto another topic.

"Just thought you would want to do something normal for once." He said with a shrug as they both stopped walking and faced each other.

"I don't do normal, you should know that by now." She said with a smile and Kakashi eye smiled. "I don't think I could be normal…" She said with a slight laugh as they linked their other hands together.

"Hm, that's true…" Kakashi mused and she punched his arm and he laughed as he rubbed it and she pouted. "But then again neither could I." He said, linking their hands backs together.

"You're so mean sometimes." She chided him and he wrapped her in a hug as she wrapped her arms around his waist and just relaxed into him when inspiration struck. "Come on, we've got to get back quickly." She said, breaking the short hug and pulling him after her with confusion back to their room as she ran, laughed and splashed in puddles, getting both of them muddy and she had him laughing and playing too as he flicked water at her as the rain continued to pour.

They got back and dried off, changing their clothes and hanging the others up. Sonea pouted with annoyance as Kakashi took the desk chair but then was pulled onto his lap as she squeaked slightly and gripped his arms to keep some sort of balance as she fell gracefully and he kissed her cheek, holding her by the waist as he turned back to her drawing and she continued on it while he watched silently.

The pattern was gothic yet tribal like and reminded him of the marks the curse seal Sasuke has and he hummed and she leaned a little closer to him as she focused and the rain continued outside into the early evening.

A/N: Okay so some of you may be wondering why I'm posting so many chapters at once and so quickly? Well I want to get this over with so we can hop to the third and final section of this whole saga before the manga changes again AAAHHH! Kishi what have you done?! Anyway read and review please and it would be greatly appreciated.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter twenty-one

_The masked man with his tiger shapes upon it. Another masked man with an orange swirl on it. Another man with a white rippling mask with three tomoes on it and a sharingan and rinnegan showing through it. Obito, Madara, the screech and the shadow of the humanoid creature._

Sonea sat up in bed, breathing hard with a headache as she clutched to her temples. It wasn't a vision as no blood came from her eyes, just the howling of the Jyuubi inside her head. She calmed her breathing and looked around the room, noting the mess on the desk with a complete drawing of the odd sharingan until her eyes settled on the restless movements of Kakashi next to her.

"Can't sleep?" She asked him. He turned over to face her and examined her face.

"No, it's to humid after that storm. Did you have a nightmare?" He asked back.

"Yeah, it was a bit confusing though." Sonea stated as she moved to her bag and began rummaging in it. She pulled out her pants that were missing a leg and swiftly cut off the other with a wind jutsu before changing into them.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi asked as he propped himself up on his side with his elbow to watch her. She finished getting her top on and turned back to him the light from the blinds ran across her eyes and he saw the mischievous glint to them.

"You can come with so get ready quickly." She said cheekily as Kakashi shot out of bed and began dressing. He summoned Pakkun and told him to tell Tenzo not to worry if he wakes up. He dressed in a pair of black shorts and a navy blue sleeveless shirt with the mask attached and followed her out into the dead quiet village. His sharingan spun lazily as they walked out into the humid night air and he walked with his hands in his pockets behind Sonea, wondering where they were going. They entered through a fenced off area and he noted that it looked like one of the training grounds and followed her through the foggy forest, looking around as they walked. She stopped at a clearing as he walked up next to her and noticed it was a small pond with a waterfall against some rocks and the moon reflected over its surface.

"So… What are we doing here?" Kakashi asked looking around at the beautiful place and couldn't believe it was a training ground.

"It's a hot night so I decided to see if I could finish the final step of your training now and then we can take a swim to cool off." Sonea said, hanging some towels off a tree and walking onto the middle of the pond to a small island there and gestured for Kakashi to follow. Kakashi got to the island and Sonea pushed him into a meditative position while she stood on the water next to him, facing the waterfall.

"Your chakra coils have become bigger allowing you to have more chakra thanks to using your sharingan, you are now able to keep your sharingan open during a whole day of fighting and not suffer from exhaustion. " Sonea said with her hands on his shoulders, staring at the waterfall with Kakashi. "I did a little experiment while you were out during that time and a little research to the Uchiha family. Itachi, Shisui and Obito were all immediate cousins and two out of the three has awakened the mangekyo which makes me believe that your sharingan could too however the Uchiha are born with a larger capacity for chakra to maintain the dojutsu… Something you don't or rather didn't have. Now I don't know what mangekyo you'll have which is why I'm standing behind you. I want you to concentrate a large amount of chakra and when you are ready, focus it into your sharingan and focus on the waterfall." Sonea instructed and Kakashi placed his hands together and concentrated. Sonea kept a watch on the amount of chakra he was focusing and waited for the right moment.

"That's not enough, you need a lot more." Sonea said, realising he was about to try it.

"How much more?" He asked with a bit of strain.

"As much chakra you can muster up without passing out, now concentrate." She said and waited, sensing his chakra. "Now." She instructed calmly and he opened his eye and looked towards the waterfall that began to warp. "They don't call you a genius for nothing." Sonea said with sarcasm and patted his shoulder as she moved to the front of him when the warping ended. She got on her haunches in front of him and looked at his new eye and gasped with wide eyes.

"What?" He asked in a cautious whisper while she examined his eye and she pushed him to look into the water at it. He gasped silently as well… It was the exact same sharingan that Sonea had drawn days ago and finished earlier that night. He caught a flinch when Sonea stood up fast next to him and walked away, her back now facing him. This had confused and frustrated Sonea further for that sharingan was just a dream, no vision or anything and she let a growl escape her throat as she took out the drawing she had folded carefully into her pocket and looked at it. Kakashi watched her pull out the drawing and rub her temple with her hand in frustration and confusion as he stood up carefully with his depleted chakra and walked over to her and looked at the picture over her shoulder.

"It wasn't a vision." She said suddenly making him step around her slightly to look at her face with furrowed brows. "To predict something so perfectly is unreal." She said, turning to face him and raising her eyes to his, his mangekyo sharingan spinning lazily in his eye still.

"Well stranger things have happened." He said, running the back of his fingers along her cheek.

"You know nothing simple like that happens to me… You know what, I'm tired of over thinking things… Here." She said handing him the picture as she took a deep breath and her shoulders relaxed a little as he took the picture from her and headed back to shore by the towels to put it down.

"I think that's enough training for the night." Kakashi said, walking towards the water and walking into it slowly as his sharingan turned back to normal and he closed his eye.

"I have to agree with you on that." Sonea said with a sigh as she slowly sunk into the water like an elevator and dunked her head before surfacing again to find Kakashi had disappeared. "Kakashi?" She called, looking for him, automatically thinking the worst when she didn't even feel Kakashi sneak up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist. As she realised, he had pulled her under the water and let her go as she struggled to the surface for air. She got out of the water and stood hunched over, gasping for breath as Kakashi resurfaced and began to laugh, pulling down his mask.

"That so… wasn't funny…" She gasped out, trying to catch her breath. Kakashi stood on the water too and took off his wet shirt and tossed it to where their towels were. Sonea's lungs and throat burned as her little air she was gasping in hitched, eyes trained on every movement Kakashi made as he grabbed the hem of his shirt and in one smooth movement, pulled it over his head and tossed it aside. Her demon eyes caught every movement his muscles made, rippling as the moonlight reflected off his skin and feeling a blush dusting her cheeks as their eyes met. Kakashi raised an eyebrow and nearly smirked to himself as he walked over to her and placed a finger under her chin and a hand at the small of her back to make her stand up straight again and when she was, she was pressed against him and she looked away from his smiling and dimpled face with embarrassment.

"You never use to be this shy." He chided softly as he caressed her cheek with his thumb and gently pushing to get her to look at him. His breath hitched slightly as she did look at him. The moonlight made her eyes seem like they were glowing and the light upon her skin seemed ethereal as he traced the unmarked skin with his sharingan, memorising it forever and how their bodies were pressed together, like two pieces of a puzzle. His eyes traced back up to her face and landed on her lips and he pressed his against hers. Kakashi shivered as her fingernails ran down his back with a small bit of pressure and tilted his head to deepen the kiss as she ran her hands up his body and around his neck, one massaging the nape and the other running through his hair as it draped down like a curtain from the water and began to spring back up again as it dried. Her hand on the nape moved around his neck and grazed a scar as he gasped and pulled back from the kiss with surprised shock.

"What the hell was that?" He asked, touching his neck but couldn't find the same feeling he felt when she touched him. She knocked his hand away gently and touched her teeth marks and he shivered violently and whined low in his voice as his eyes fell shut without his permission.

"Where blood was exchanged, I have one too now but you'll have to find it yourself." She whispered as she stood on the balls of her feet and placed a small kiss on the mark and he dropped into the water, pulling her with him as they broke contact and returned to the surface with Sonea coughing and laughing while Kakashi hid up to his eyes in the water, glaring at her.

"That's not fair." He pouted, raising his head up out of the water again as he swam towards her and stopped.

"Oh? Well I think it's perfectly fair…" She challenged with a grin.

"How so?" He asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and holding her against him as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"You make me feel like such a stuttering idiot when you tease me." She said with a blush and an embarrassed smile as he spun her around in the water.

"Been there, done that." He mused in a board tone and Sonea pouted.

"We better get back and at least get some sleep before the sun rises again." Sonea said, pulling herself away from him and diving underwater and appearing by the shore seconds later and Kakashi was a surprised at how fast she could swim as he followed. They got out quickly, dried themselves and went back to the hotel and managed to sleep soundly afterwards.

Kakashi woke up to an empty bed and sighed as he touched his neck. When she touched it he felt something close to a small spark of electricity and pulled away with confusion but when she kissed it, he felt like he wanted to faint it felt so good but luckily the cold water washed any thought of that away when he lost concentration from the pure pleasure that coursed through his whole being at that moment. It was so indescribably good… If a simple caress like that did that to him what would sex be like with her? He blushed at the thought and let his hand fall onto the bed to hear the sound of paper and found a note as he picked it up and read it.

_Kakashi_

_I left early this morning and decided to start on the outskirts of Mizu no Sato at full speed since we're running out of time. I left you to sleep after having your chakra depleted after last night and I'll be back by nightfall hopefully with news of finding at least one of the jinchuuriki or bijuu._

_I've left Tenzo a separate letter so don't worry about that and I'll see you later._

_Love Sonea_

Kakashi pouted as he folded the letter up and put it on the side table with her drawing and sighed once again. He got up and found his mask and headed to the main room connecting to the other two rooms and found Tenzo sitting there, drinking some tea and reading peacefully.

"Morning Tenzo." Kakashi said as he headed over to the counter to make himself some tea.

"Morning senpai." Tenzo greeted back as Kakashi sat down next to him. "No shirt this morning?" Tenzo teased, closing his book.

"Nope." He said, not interested with Tenzo's teasing.

"Sonea said we have a training ground to ourselves and said to spar some time today. You up for it?" Tenzo asked him.

"Sure… I wonder how early she got up this morning?" Kakashi wondered out loud, sipping his tea through his mask.

"She was up before me and that was at about four this morning… I'm surprised you slept this late senpai, are you feeling alright?" Tenzo asked him noticing how dazed he seemed.

"The humidity kept me up… I don't think she even went to sleep last night." Kakashi mused distractedly as he stared into his tea.

Sonea had been running through Mizu and as Kakashi had predicted she didn't get any sleep with her over thinking even after saying she didn't care anymore about it. Her black ten-tailed wolf form gave her the clear mind she needed as the purple highlights glistened in her fur. Mei had been up early that morning and gave the coordinates of the ANBU tracking and following Utakata and she hoped she could persuade him to go back to Kiri for his own protection and maybe find the sanbi along the way as stability again among the countries and bijuu.

She yawned as the sun peaked through the clouds to give a sunny day as she reverted back to her human form and found a nice tree on the top of a hill and proceeded up to it and relaxed against it with another yawn, lacing her hands together behind her head as she watched the clouds roll by.

"Should have brought some lunch with me." Sonea mused with a little annoyance to her tone as it was roughly one in the afternoon and she had been running for about eight hours, pushing her sensory abilities to the max. She sighed again as she realised it would take her at least five hours to get back to Kiri again as she was on another island now. She had stopped by the ANBU but lost Utakata's trail a while ago and trying to pick it up again.

She procrastinated for another hour, letting her mind clear itself as she absentmindedly played with her belly ring before getting up again, dusting the grass off and running back to Kiri again in her wolf form as the sun began to go down for the day. She calculated having only a month left to find the remaining bijuu and jinchuuriki and to miss these last two would mean failing a third of her mission which now that she thought about it was better than nothing.

Sonea grabbed some ramen as she entered Kirigakure again and headed up to their place to find it locked up with no one else there so she finished her ramen in peace deciding Ichiraku's was better and proceeded to fall asleep on the couch at about six thirty in the evening.

Tenzo supported Kakashi on the way back to their rooms as he pushed it too far by trying out his new mangekyo sharingan again and nearly passed out though Tenzo was quite impressed by the dojutsus power. Kakashi was barely awake as he held onto Tenzo weakly with his arm over Tenzo's shoulders and Tenzo held him up by the belt of his pants as they struggled up the stairs.

Sonea woke up when the two familiar presences stood by the door and sat up with a stretch when she felt how weak the one was and jumped up for the door to see Kakashi hanging off Tenzo and she hooked his other arm over her shoulders and helped him to the couch, kicking the door closed.

"What happened?" She asked, standing next to Tenzo and examining Kakashi.

"Mangekyo sharingan. We did some training and senpai decided to try it before just about passing out." Tenzo explained, turning his gaze to her. "And you don't look to much better Sonea."

"Ah, well I kinda got lost on the path of life…" Sonea said sheepishly, scratching her cheek and grinning embarrassed. "I kinda had to push it to get back but I'm fine after the little sleep I got when I got back." A slight groan of annoyance and pain from Kakashi caught her attention as she got on her haunches in front of him to look under his hair hanging over his face with his head bowed and his eyes were barely open and staring at nothing. Sonea's eyes flinched as it reminded her of the vacant look he got after his father's death before she leaned in and kissed his masked lips. He was cold and barely responded, maybe twitched but that was it. "Tenzo, could you go and make him a warm bath while I watch his condition and keep him awake for now?" Sonea asked, still studying him and healing some minor wounds he had received. Tenzo moved off without another word and soon water could be heard, filling the bathtub.

He moved slightly, catching Sonea's attention back to him and her chest tightened. He looked so emotionally vunerable that it hurt and she swallowed back her emotions as she stood and hugged him and he hugged back as tightly as he could, resting his forehead against her junction of her neck and shoulder and his whole body began shuddering when she felt the first drops of tears on her shoulder and her eyes went wide.

There had only been four times she had ever seen him cry but the way he was crying here told her he learnt to be silent and unseen and it made her chest ache as she swallowed hard at her constricting throat as she gripped him tighter, sitting on the couch next to him as he gasped for air slightly. She heard the water shut off and a door open and another open and close, telling her Tenzo had gone to his room, probably seeing the sight there and deciding to let her deal with it.

A crack of thunder was heard but neither one of them moved a muscle as the rain began to pout outside as Kakashi allowed the cover of the rain to let him self sob a little bit and small gasping wails escape his lips and Sonea panicked.

'Anchor… He needs and anchor… But what?' Sonea silently cursed herself in her thoughts as lightning flashed across the sky again.

"_When I come here, I feel like punishing my old foolish self." _She remembered what Kakashi had said to the memorial stone the morning of Hiruzen's funeral… He was breaking right there and it was dangerous in an elite shinobi's career as it could end the shinobi's career in a heartbeat to anyone even the best like herself but now wasn't the time to think about herself.

'Anchor… Anchor…' Her voice panicked in her mind.

"_I like hearing the sound of your voice.' _ She remembered him saying once. _'It's calming and always has been even in the toughest situations.' _

'My voice…' She wondered as she heard a slight pattern to the rain that reminded her of a song (1) and she began to sing it as his jerking body calmed a little with gasp to breath normally again. Sure it wasn't finished but she had a basic idea of where she wanted it to go and sung as she managed to wiggle a little out of his hold and stand up with him, supporting most of his weight to the bathroom and noticed a bubble bath with a very faint scent.

'Thank you Tenzo.' Sonea praised as she stood him next to the bathtub ending the song for now. "Kakashi…" She said calmly, getting his attention and running a hand through his hair and he looked at her as she held back a flinch from the openness. "I need you to get undressed and get into the bath while I grab you some clothes." She asked, pulling his mask off and setting it on top of the toilet seat and he nodded and reached for his shirt. She noticed him come back to himself slightly as she left the door open as she entered their room and dug in his bag.

"I should have warned you." Tenzo's voice said softly from the door.

"Does he always break this badly with such bad chakra exhaustion?" She asked.

"…Yes…" He said and Sonea sighed slightly with his clothes in her hands as she turned to Tenzo and smiled.

"It seems like you're the most normal out of the three of us huh?" She asked and he smiled slightly.

"I have my moments…" He said before heading back to his room, closing their bedroom door behind him as Sonea headed back into the bathroom. Kakashi was already sitting in the bubble bath and stiffly, not moving a muscle as she entered the room and put his clothes down on the toilet seat and examined him. His eyes were coming back slightly and not so vunerable as he built his walls around himself again and she continued from the chorus of the song she left off, opening her locket along the way to give more depth to the song with the powerful base her chakra gave off and it would also calm him as it was a calm sensation and not deadly like she would use during missions.

She sat on the edge of the bathtub behind him and ran some water through his hair, tilting his head back a bit so the soapy water didn't go into his eyes. His whole self began to relax as she worked some shampoo into his hair and began massaging it gently through his scalp as he leaned back slightly as she could feel him warming up and already recovering from the exhaustion. The slight flashes of white across the tiles indicated the natural chakra that was creating a slight back ground hum of base as she got off the edge of the bathtub and knelt next to it now as Kakashi watched her with a calm and clear expression as she rubbed some soap onto a wash cloth and ran it across his shoulders and down his arms and down his chest and under the water slightly then to his back before rinsing him off and rubbing the clean wash cloth over his face, paying special attention to his red and puffy eyes. She let her thoughts speak as she released the base and brought it back up again with the part she hadn't written in the song yet.

He opened his eyes he didn't realise he closed when the song ended and she moved away from him to grab some towels. She put one over her shoulder and held the other out between her hands as she stood on the edge of the bathtub and swapped her one leg to the other side and bent over with towelled hand for him to take as she helped him to stand up and instantly wrapped the towel around his hips once he was steady and standing. In one fluid movement she shifted onto one foot and did half a twirl, stepping off the side simply and turned back to him, holding his hands as she helped him out of the bath and with the other towel she had over her shoulders she began to dry him off so gently like a fine piece of china that looked like it would break if handled too much. She left the towel over his hair, draping over his shoulders and reached for the clothes on the toilet seat.

He didn't say anything as she bent down and coaxed him to step into his boxers and she pulled them up, removing the towel at the exact time, never revealing anything as she hung it up over the now empty bath and did the same with the one over his head before grabbing his t-shirt and pulled it over and he didn't move a muscle as she slipped him into it carefully, her face passive and concentrated through the whole thing. She picked up his mask and held it but as soon as he made no move to take it, she just held it as she took his hand and lead him to bed where she tucked him in and he was out like a light before she even kissed his forehead goodnight.

A/N: The song mentioned is not my property but property of the artist who wrote and sung it… I just use it cause they don't exist in the Narutoverse

What Now by Rihanna

Review please?


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter twenty-two

Kakashi was sore when he woke up and pried his dry and stinging eyes open to glare at the clock that said it was eleven that same night. His chest and heart ached… The same gapping hole that appeared when his walls crumbled under their intensity. He couldn't understand, only ANBU missions did this to him and to break so badly with chakra exhaustion when he's had it so many times before he was at a loss for words and shifted to lie on his back and stare up at the ceiling and think.

The bed felt cold and too still meaning he was alone as he kept his senses dulled from overexertion and emotional pain. Then he heard music and looked in the direction it was playing and cursed himself, if Sonea was an enemy he would be dead already. She was curled up on the very edge of the bed with her back facing him and he could see the light glinting off of her earphones in her ears. He frowned at it blearing out of her ears and the words to the song (1) and how stiff and tense her body was, barely breathing and he knew she wasn't asleep but in a meditative sleep, her aura feeling cold past the cold spot between them but her skin blazing hot like usual. The song ended but started up again probably on repeat as she turned over with furrowed brows as she slept/meditated.

Her movements were to slow and calculated as her features grimaced and her eyes darted back and forth behind her eyelids.

'A nightmare.' He mused with sympathy. He wondered if she screams from them or what she had seen to give it all away so easily as most shinobi learned to just sleep through them, live through the horror and wake up calmly before going back to sleep easily. Her features grimaced again with anger, pain, sadness as a tear slipped out as the song changed to the song (2) she wrote for Minato and Naruto and he knew she must be remembering the Kyuubi attack.

'Another round of nightmares.' He mused again with a silent sigh. He briefly wondered how she could be in meditation and still dream before she shifted again to lie facing him and yawned and he oddly noticed her perfect white teeth with the canines sticking down further than the rest like the Inuzuka clan but he had never seen her stick them out before and he smiled at a chibi version of her popping into his mind, hands clawed over her head and hissing with her lengthened teeth and he laughed silently, trying not to jostle the bed.

"Sleep." She said, her voice sleepy and drawn out but also a little gravely and he frowned as he looking into her eyes and she rolled her MP 3 player up and twisted to put it on the side table.

"You should take your own advice." Kakashi teased back and she hummed.

"Yeah I should… I haven't exactly slept a lot these past few days. How are you feeling?" She asked, a little more awake now but her voice still sounded rough.

"I'll be fine. Maybe you shouldn't listen to music before you sleep?" Kakashi suggested and he could see slight panic hit her eyes before it faded as quickly as it came.

"It keeps the nightmares away besides it's always been an important part to my life… It was the only thing that helped me through each day… My fix as you could call it." She said with a slight saddened smile before she ran her fingertips over his eyes to close them. "Now sleep, you won't be feeling good in the morning." She said but he opened his eyes again and leaned his forehead against hers and surprisingly she didn't blush. Rather she leaned in against him, flush against his body and wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. They pulled back and opened their eyes and Kakashi was instantly caught in a genjutsu as he fell asleep again and Sonea tucked him back in and stood up to get dressed… It appears she wasn't getting any sleep again that night.

This time she remembered to take some food with her and packed it into her emergency scroll before knocking on Tenzo's door and opened it to see him resting on his elbow on his side, wiping his tired eyes as he woke up and the blanket dropped to his hips to show his firm and toned chest.

"Sonea… is everything alright?" He asked sleepily, sitting up and swinging his legs over the bed before turning on the light and grimacing slightly.

"Everything's fine but I wanted to let you know I'm heading out for one last search tonight and I'm not sure when I'll be back. I've also placed Kakashi into a sleep genjutsu since he wasn't resting properly and neither can I." Sonea said eerily calm with furrowed brows.

"Is everything really okay Sonea?" Tenzo asked, catching on quickly and Sonea sighed.

"No… Not really. Please release the genjutsu in the morning and keep training with Kakashi and his mangekyo sharingan, I've taught you everything you need to know… See you soon Tenzo." She said with a small smile and a shimmer and she was gone before Tenzo could register the situation in his head.

"Gah!" Mei said in a shout as she fell off her chair and threw papers everywhere. "Sonea? What the hell?" She asked with angry confusion as she fixed her chair and a few papers before sitting behind her desk calmly with annoyance while Sonea tried to keep the amused smirk off of her face.

"Sorry Mei, I didn't mean to scare you." Sonea said sheepishly with a fond smile for her friend.

"What do you want?" She asked with a sigh… She reminded Sonea of Tsunade but she shook the thought before she burst out laughing.

"I'm leaving for a few days and leaving my team here… You don't mind do you? I'm sure Tenzo would go out on a date with you if you ask nicely enough even if we're from two warring villages." Sonea asked and Mei smiled and shook her head in amusement.

"I don't mind but can you give me some sort of time frame before you return and take your team back to Konoha with you?" She asked and Sonea found something outside the window interesting.

"Less than a month since my mission is due to end soon and we'll be out of your hair Mei and thanks a lot for everything." Sonea said, getting ready on a windowsill to jump out into the misty and cold night.

"It was and is my pleasure old friend." Mei smiled as Sonea smiled too and jumped off, transforming into her wolf mode as soon as she hit the village's boarders and headed out to find the two remaining and unknown jinchuuriki.

Kakashi woke up feeling terrible as he groaned and rolled away from the sunlight peaking through the window.

"Senpai… Are you awake?" Tenzo asked and Kakashi opened his right eye to glare at his second in command.

"Tenzo… What's up, what time is it?" He asked, sitting up carefully and flinching at the sore muscles he had everywhere.

"O-nine hundred hours senpai. How are you feeling?" Tenzo asked, setting some tea down on the side table for both himself and Kakashi.

"I'll be fine if I rest a little today… I can't believe I slept that long, where's Sonea?" He asked, thankful he had his mask on somehow.

"She's… gone on a little extended excursion…" Tenzo said nervously as Kakashi registered.

"That damn… She placed a damn genjutsu on me… Where'd she go?" Kakashi asked with annoyance and determination as he hopped up with a slight stumble and began to get dressed.

"I don't know senpai but she said to stay here and train on your mangekyo… Our deadline to get back to Konoha is in three weeks and she doesn't have a lot of time left so I'm guessing if she ran around in that wolf form of hers she's hoping to find them quicker and complete her mission…. She seems especially worried about the missing Sanbi." Tenzo explained and returned Kakashi's glares levelly. "It's her mission… She can order us to do anything she wants Senpai and we can't change that."

"But… She's so weak… I can't believe what I'm saying but…" Kakashi began as he leaned back against the dresser, giving up on dressing.

"I believe she can handle herself she was the Rikudo's student before a jinchuuriki meaning she's tough even without the Jyuubi. She'll be back no matter what senpai we just have to believe in her." Tenzo said almost like an order and Kakashi knew he was right.

"Right…" Kakashi said as a little sigh. "Let's get training." Kakashi said as he finished up getting dressed and they headed to the training grounds for the day. Things fell into a routine of waking up, training, eating a packed lunch, more training then returning back to where they were staying. Kakashi would have a shower first while Tenzo cooked and swap as Kakashi took the food and ate up on the roof to watch the night sky, wondering where Sonea was and what she was doing… Maybe think about his team both old and new, determined on protecting Naruto and Sonea from Akatsuki no matter what when they all returned so he would have to keep a lot more focused.

She had been gone for two weeks and three days now as Kakashi lay on the roof with the full moon high in the sky. Tenzo had gone out with the Mizukage that night and he was grateful for the piece of quiet for a while. He wondered like usual how Sonea was and how she was doing as he really missed her presence by his side. He felt like a kid again when he worked on his mangekyo, excited to show her his progress if she returned.

'No, when she returns.' He corrected himself with annoyance. 'She's an amazing shinobi and survived thick and thin… She will always return.' He said with a smile as he laced his fingers together behind his head and closed his eyes.

Strangely enough Sonea was in Kirigakure that night, getting into a bar fight… Or rather an all out one versus fifty brawl and massacre without killing of coarse, Mei wouldn't be very happy with her if she killed her shinobi but not if she just 'Defended' herself and knocked them out for the night. A little time and fun on her own had calmed her over thinking and she felt genuinely happy again, she was focused and was going ahead with fate and she was going to try and survive this selfishly once in her life…. Existence… Whatever this was but dammit she was going to live even if she became immortal once again her whole life had been about grinning and bearing it and she wasn't going to let fate and a stupid little creature… Okay maybe a huge big ass creature that sent the whole world into panic at one stage but she had defeated it years ago and she would again.

The fight was over and the pleasurable feeling of pain hit her as she looked at the men strewn across the bar's floor and dropped some money onto the counter for the stunned barman for all the damage done as she cleaned some blood from her eyes so she could see again and left the bar, her black coat flaring out behind her as she went out into the misty land where the sun was starting to rise and she smirked and walked along the streets.

"Lunch… break… Ten… zo." Kakashi panted out, doubled over and resting against his knees that were shaking under his weight. They had been sparring the whole morning then he worked on his mangekyo once and he was done for an hour or so. He could run and use it but his aim was off for the warping when he moved but at least he could use it twice now after a spar and be stuck in bed for a while.

"Sure senpai." Tenzo said with pride at his senpai as Kakashi collapsed where he was standing and scooted his back up against a tree as Tenzo brought their lunch's over and sat with him as they ate silently and drank some water. Kakashi had closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree after making his food disappear and was now waiting for Tenzo to finish up so they could get back to training again.

"Sleeping on the job I see…" A familiar voice mocked.

'No… It can't be… It's in my head.' Kakashi mused as he cracked his right eye open and saw that Tenzo had reacted to the voice too and was smiling and looking for her. A rustling in the trees had them scrambling out of the way before Sonea flipped upside down on a branch and hung there with her knees hooked over a branch, her coat flaring up behind her.

"Yo." She said with two fingers in a jerked wave and smiled mischievously and Kakashi had to blink.

"Sonea." He breathed out with shock, disbelief and surprise but also something else he couldn't place but it felt like the feeling you get when someone keeps a promise and warmth spread through him, forgetting about his slight exhaustion. She unhooked one knee from the tree and did a cartwheel motion before landing on the ground without a sound and in one fluid movement. Then he noticed the state she was in and immediately moved to her side with Tenzo probably thinking the same thing.

"I'm fine." She said with annoyance, holding up her hands defensively with a hard stare… Yes the old Sonea was back.

"What the hell happened to you?" Tenzo finally asked. She had old and dried blood streaked along her face from its downward flow and wiped across from her eyes and as she flipped out of the tree, her coat opened to reveal some old blood along her stomach and chest and even to her neck and legs and her hands… full of blood that had worn off slightly.

"I got into a bar fight last night… Mei's going to kill me." She said with a satisfied smirk and her hands on her hips, opening the coat again to assess the remaining damage and blood.

"Who won?" Kakashi asked and her smirk grew bigger and more dangerous and Kakashi felt his heart jump.

"I did of coarse." She answered silkily and Kakashi could feel his entire body reacting to her.

"The odds?" Tenzo asked, also smiling along now.

"One against fifty Kiri jonin and I think some ANBU by their fighting style." She answered with an arrogant shrug like it was nothing and Tenzo laughed.

"That's my girl." Kakashi said with pride and her eyes met his with a faint blush to her cheeks as her eyes drooped slightly with affection at him and he felt like he was being washed away with her look and could just stare at her forever.

"So…" She asked, piping up again. "How's training going?" She asked changing seriously again… Oh yes the focused and powerful persona of Sonea was back full steam.

"Senpai can use his mangekyo successively twice in a row but his aim while moving is still off but he's able to spar for a while before hand." Tenzo piped up with some pride to his voice.

"Tenzo's wood release has strengthened… It takes a bit of power for lightning release to penetrate through." Kakashi also said with pride as the two guys exchanged a smile to each other. "How did the bijuu searching go?" He asked and he noticed her face drop immediately.

"Utakata has dropped off the radar officially and I fear the worse and the sanbi refuses to be found so it was a failed excursion for nothing." She said, looking down with furrowed brows.

"Where'd you go to?" Tenzo asked, dubbing training over as they headed back to their rooms.

"I went south first of all and started at the Land of the Sea then across to Tea and up to Konoha again and explored the other nations thoroughly all the way up to the boarders of the Land of the Demons before I turned back knowing my time had come to an end." Sonea said easily with some doubt but Tenzo's jaw was on the floor at the distance travelled and Kakashi was a little wide-eyed too but it didn't seem like a big deal to Sonea.

"Wow…" Tenzo said and Sonea smiled slightly again as they headed back. The first thing she did was have a good shower and enjoyed the hot water soothing her stressed and over worked muscles. She could only hold her wolf form for a few days before it became dangerous and began believing you were actually a wolf so she didn't get as far as she wanted but it was far enough.

She rolled her neck as she exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her and stopped, feeling watched and opened her eyes to see Kakashi lounging on the bed, Icha Icha in hand and one knee drawn up slightly and she inwardly smirked. She unwrapped the towel, already having her underwear and bra on and rubbed the towel against her back as it itched at the seal and she sighed contently, moving towards her forgotten bag and bending over slightly, digging for some clothes.

"Whatever happened to you in these last few weeks… Keep it." Kakashi said with a slight growl to his voice as she felt his rough hands run from the middle of her back and slid around her as he pulled her back against him and she leaned back against him, nuzzling under his chin.

"I intend to." She said silkily back and nipped at his exposed jaw and she felt him shiver and tighten his hold around her.

"You love torturing me don't you?" Kakashi groaned as he dropped his lips to the junction of her shoulder and neck, taking in her scent and tasting her skin there, nibbling gently as she rolled her neck to the other side to give him more access.

"It's what I live for." She said with a smirk, her eyes closed as his hands travelled up from her hips to her ribs and she winced slightly and Kakashi immediately stopped and stepped to the same side she winced from and checked her ribs. She had a healing break there which was still slightly bruised and he looked up at her from examining her rib and she just shrugged and Kakashi sighed with a smile as he shook his head. "Oh come on I'm not that fragile." She said out with mock annoyance and she grabbed onto his shoulders as she was lifted up into his arms and he walked over to the bed.

"Perhaps not." Kakashi mused sarcastically as he dropped her onto the bed with surprise from Sonea as he laughed and crawled over her, engaging with her in a deep and much longed for kiss. He rolled them over so she was lying on top, breaking the kiss at the same time as she straddled his thighs and sat up, running her hands along his ripped chest hidden under a tight sleeveless shirt.

"We're on a mission." She stated hollowly, watching her hands run up under his shirt now, almost entranced.

"And I suppose you want at least something done right?" He asked with amusement as he sat up, placed his hands on her thighs and kissed along her jaw. "We don't have to go all the way right now… In time love." He said against her jaw and she smiled at the little pet name.

"I want to." She said but Kakashi caught the slight anxiety in her voice and gripped her chin gently and kissed her.

"In time love." He repeated and she nodded, a little dazed by lust, as she seemed determined to rid him of his shirt. Kakashi chuckled slightly as he helped her and lay back down and left her to explore what she wanted… He was and always would be hers no matter what.

A/N; I do not own the songs mentioned above but they belong to the artists who wrote and sung them.

In the Shadows by the Rasmus

No light by Florence and the Machine

Thanks for reading.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter twenty-three

**A/N: Caution! There is a pretty steamy part to this chapter, no sex or lemons just hardcore foreplay. There is more to the chapter so here is your guide to avoiding it… Unfocus your eyes and scroll down until you reach bold and underlined letters with a line break, making sure it's at the top of your page before you continue to read and continue on like usual**

She leaned down against him and ran her hands along his hips and her lips and nose was following every scar, every contour of his body as he lay back and let her do what she wanted. Her breath tickled his skin slightly, stirring his groin and he sighed as he closed his eyes and arched slightly to her touch. This is what he's wanted, always wanted, to feel Sonea touch him and learn to love each other.

She was so pure to him but had her needs just like any other human being no matter how much control you think you have over your body and he sighed audibly again as her hands ran over each rib on his sides and she followed each of his muscles along his stomach with her cheek or nose. It felt like she was almost familiarising herself with all of his skin by touch but by the peaceful look she had on her face with her eyes closed, he could see she needed this and has rejected herself to have it for so many years.

She crawled up slightly as she followed the middle ridge of his body back up, hands so soft for a ninja ghosted over his nipples and he moaned slightly from the light touch as she had her face by his neck again and down each arm, feeling each muscle, massaging it slightly and this had such a huge effect on him, so sensual, so perfectly pure yet so sexual at the same time as he tried to give her the time she wanted to explore.

The sweetest type of torture as she ran her lips over each finger, lacing her hand with his then moving to the next hand and doing the same before sitting up again, hands entwined and her eyes so content and closed with a slight smile to her lips and a full blown blush that also seemed peaceful. She opened her eyes lazily and her pupils were slightly dilated almost like she was drugged but she wasn't it was the effect of blood and such as she sat down on the bed next to him and rested one hand on his stomach as she proceeded with the exploring down his legs to his ankles and back up again, as her other hand followed after her lips and nose or cheek.

Kakashi had begun panting, his chest heaving with each one. She was so beautiful inside and out as she nuzzled the end of his boxers slightly contently yet so innocently as she looked up at him through extremely heavy lidded eyes, her hands on his other thigh and stomach as her fingers danced across muscles and took in every movement he made. She attentively took in every movement, every sound he made and the contours of his beautifully pale skin, littered with scars that made him that little more special and unique across his so far hairless body.

There was no denying how hard and horny Kakashi was right there as his navy blue boxers tented over, constricting him and she just was enjoying every other part that he didn't want to interrupt her but he had his limits and he wasn't beyond begging… Whether or not she'll do something about it was another story as she noticed his tent and began a mental battle, portrayed through her glowing red eyes.

"You don't have to." Kakashi found himself whispering out at her and that little bit just gave her the determination she needed as she leaned over him and kissed him. He didn't notice the hand that tentatively slipped into his boxers until her soft hand wrapped around the base gently and he hissed and bucked up into her hand and she watched his face for any discomfort, as she was quite clueless when it came to foreplay. "Keep going." Kakashi said out breathlessly, encouraging her as her hand began to pump him and he gripped the sheets in his hands and resisted the urge to buck up again.

She felt a sticky wet substance leak from the tip and swiped her finger over it and ran it back down his length, twisting her hand to lubricate his whole length and Kakashi flat out groaned, loud and uncontrolled and her eyes watched him like a hawk entranced at his pleasure. She continued, slowly speeding up as time went and he wriggled in pleasure, his heels digging into the bed as he tried not to buck up but his hips began rolling into her hand instead and she began teasing the head more often.

"Sonea…" He gasped, sitting up slightly, supported on his elbow as he placed his other hand on her cheek and pulled her into a kiss, groaning as her tongue wrapped around his just like her hand on his cock. Kakashi panted as he rested his forehead against hers, eyes closed as she had a quick speed going now, their breaths mingling.

His eyes suddenly snapped open at the fire curling in his groin and he reached down to stop her pumping and wrapped her in his arms, kissing her again as her hands ran along the edge of his boxers, wanting to please him… It's what her instincts told her to do and what she wanted to do. The kiss abruptly ended as she was flipped over to lie on her back on Kakashi's chest and she looked up at him questioningly as he rubbed her hips with his rough hands, focused on kissing her shoulder and neck.

"Kakashi?" She asked in a whisper of slight confusion.

"Don't worry, you'll like this." He said as he held his one hand on her hip and his other hand ran along the waist band of her panties before diving in to find a hairless and dripping lips as he ran his middle finger along her outer lips, content on feasting on her neck and shoulder and she was relaxing into him and gasping at each different touch.

He slipped his finger between the wet folds and she spread her legs across his instinctively and gripped his hip with one hand and his arm working on her with the other but made no move to stop him so he continued, running his finger up and down her wet slit, memorising all the dips and places that made her breath faster. Her reaction were so perfect as he found her swollen nub and began rubbing up and down and her back arched, rubbing her ass against his clothed and hard cock still but he wanted them to come together so he worked and focused since he was so close to the edge already.

He changed his motions to circles and she gasped and whined a little, arching further, rolling her hips into his movements and gripping his thigh and arm but not to stop. Shifting his hand slightly, to a better angle made her gasp brokenly and burry her face into his neck and breathed harshly. Her legs had curled up slightly and quivered, she was almost there and so was he as she ground into him, pushing her hips to find the right angles she wanted.

Her body quivered and her muscles rippled as she rolled her whole self into pleasure and it was rubbing off on Kakashi as he groaned, closing his eyes, holding himself for her.

"Why are you holding back?" He whispered with strain with pants as he was almost there. "Don't think, just let go." Kakashi whispered and she let out a broken moan as her nub began to throb and she quivered on him, stilling all movements as Kakashi rubbed up against her one last time and came with her, arching into her arch. They came down slowly from their high as her legs buckled and slid out on the mattress and they lay there, still panting. "You better not be sleeping on me already." Kakashi warned sleepily as he noticed her face still buried in the crook of his neck. He felt her shake her head but didn't move her head when he felt her face get hotter against his neck and he smiled. "Shall we get cleaned up?" He asked, her body still lying across his and her heart beating slowly and rhythmically against his chest, nearly matching the same pace.

* * *

**IT'S SAFE NOW!**

She slid off of him but turned her face away quickly as she grabbed her forgotten towel and wrapped herself up again and Kakashi realised why she was so silent. She was so embarrassed to completely unravel against him by his touch was something no one was comfortable with which was why she held herself back from reaching her peak. He rolled on the bed and sat up on the edge, grabbing her quickly and sitting her back on his lap and he was right, she was flushed to hell and couldn't look at him, clutching at the towel.

"Sonea…" He said softly and she looked away quickly when her eyes tried to stray to his face. "It's okay to be come completely unravelled and bow down to pleasure with the person you love… We trust each other and I would never betray you and you're so beautiful when you become completely undone it may be a little addicting." He said comfortingly as he moved her hair away and nuzzled at her neck, next time would be his turn to follow her body like she had with his and she finally looked at him for a second before flushing further and hugging him so tenderly as he returned it gently.

She let him go and he let her use the bathroom and clean-up first as he sat there and regretted what had just happened but he was just happy they restrained themselves… How would she have reacted going all the way? Being who she was she deprived herself of this for hundreds of years being strong and independent but this will take some time for her to get through and he would make sure they would be completely comfortable before they went the whole way because he love's her and couldn't stand loosing another important person like that even if it was coming anyway.

"So… You leaving today I see." Mei said, a little saddened, eyeing Tenzo who stood quietly in a corner and blushed, avoiding her gaze and Sonea battled with a smirk in his direction.

"Unfortunately yes… The allocated time has been used up and we must return home now. Thank you for your hospitality Mei and if there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask unless… you know it means betraying my village." Sonea said sarcastically and Mei laughed.

"Yes the same goes here Sonea, I'll miss you." Mei said, standing from her desk and heading over to Sonea as they hugged and left. The boat ride back was calm and clear and Sonea spent her time meditating up on the mast, ordered to be left alone much to Kakashi's slight dismay as he sat at the table under the deck and played cards with Tenzo.

"What have you done senpai?" Tenzo questioned as he dealt the cards and Kakashi sighed.

"I should have been more careful with her… I don't think she's angry or anything just a little confused… To unravel so easily in front of someone after restraining yourself for hundreds of years, it was a mistake I could have lived without but what's done is done." Kakashi sighed and Tenzo shook his head.

"You didn't…" He asked with concern and Kakashi shook his head.

"No just… exploring I guess, she initiated it so I thought it was okay but apparently not. Only time will tell." Kakashi sighed again as he folded with his bad luck, was fate being cruel to the man who messed with it's possession?

Sonea had remained completely focused as they reached land and headed for home that both her teammates kept quiet, sad that their little mission had come to an end. They were nearing by Konoha when Sonea pulled them both off of the road by the main gate.

"Why did you do that?" Kakashi whined.

"We left over the wall remember. So we will be returning to my apartment first where our clothes are, clean up and go to see Tsunade." Sonea ordered and they left for her apartment. Sonea was pleasantly surprised to see how clean her apartment was and there was edible food in the fridge and cupboards. Tenzo fixed something to eat and Sonea took the bathroom first while Kakashi did some meditation.

Sonea sighed with content as she placed her halter neck collared top that stuck to her ribs, her shorts to her mid thigh as well as her dragon skin half skirt she missed so much as well as all of her weapon pouches and two kunai holsters, one on each leg. Lastly she slipped on her knee high heeled shinobi sandals and last but not least, she tied her hitai-ate around her waist and exited the bathroom to some delicious yakitori chicken with Kakashi while Tenzo used the shower next.

"Ah, it's so good to be home and back in uniform." Sonea said contently with a full stomach and being back home again and Kakashi agreed with a hum. They both worked to clean the dishes and Sonea noticed that she almost reached Kakashi's height with her heeled sandals on now. After cleaning up and Kakashi moved to use the bathroom, Sonea went to a height chart (They all thought it would be funny to have) and noticed she was now (Without her sandals) one point seven eight meters in height. She was shocked, three centimetres in nearly two years she thought she had stopped growing. She shrugged and ignored it.

Making sure they were sufficiently ready they left for the Hokage's Tower and all walked together with Kakashi and Tenzo at her flanks. A few people on the streets stopped and stared and some even tripped when they saw the trio walking through the streets, demanding respect with every step they took. Even shinobi who were around the tower watched with respect and no one stopped them as they knocked on the Hokage's door and entered at a muffled 'come in.'

"It's good to see you Tsunade." Sonea said. Shizune stood in shock as did the pig Tonton and Tsunade looked up slowly and smiled that matched Soneas.

"Welcome back you three, it's been a long time." Tsunade said with a smirk. Sonea raised her eyebrow at the smirking Hokage, knowing she had something under her sleeve.

"It is good to be back Hokage-sama." Tenzo said with respect as they all fell back into routine from nearly two years ago.

"Report; How did it go?" She asked as she entwined her fingers together and rested her elbows on the table and hid her mouth behind them.

"Sabaku no Gaara was alerted first. We then came across the nanabi, gonbi, yonbi and the niibi. We did not get close to the hachibi as he is the Raikage's right hand man and the rokubi has turned into a missing nin and could not be found, neither could the sanbi." Sonea reported and Tsunade looked thoughtful.

"What is the story with the sanbi?" She asked and Sonea sighed and slumped her shoulders.

"I killed it nearly two years ago in its jinchuuriki but it should have shown up again, it only takes a year for them to revive." Sonea said tiredly. She saw Tsunade about to ask the full story. "I'll write a report on it later, it wasn't public information as you could imagine why."

"Alright then. Tenzo, you will return to duty next week as ANBU and Kakashi, I will start sending you on missions next week. You two are dismissed." Tsunade told Tenzo and Kakashi and they left but Kakashi lingered outside.

"What's up?" Sonea asked seriously.

"I looked into your last ANBU mission. I didn't give my order for it to commence and I didn't know how it did. We have been getting reports of theses 'black missions' as we call them and a full scale investigation is in place but it's not looking good so far." Tsunade said truthfully and Sonea looked down with hooded eyes with a haunted expression to them and Tsunade caught the glimpse of post mission stress before it disappeared again and she looked up again. "Sonea…" Tsunade called, getting her attention back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine just… Personal issues that's all. Please conduct a physical examination as well as Kakashi was near fatally wounded shortly after we parted ways and I want to make sure my entire team are okay to return to duty again… I couldn't live with myself if something happened to them that could be prevented." Sonea asked and Tsunade smiled.

"Of coarse, all of you will be scheduled during the week you have off so go home and get some rest and I'll send a message about your examination date. Dismissed." Tsunade said and Sonea bowed and left through the door and Kakashi instantly blocked her path.

"I don't want to talk about this right now… I'm so sorry Kakashi." Sonea apologised with guilt, touching his masked cheek tenderly before she shimmered home and collapsed in the familiar setting where she could sit and unwind, cry, laugh, scream, anything she needed to get back to business before shit went down with Akatsuki in the near future.

Kakashi reached his apartment and sighed as he walked around carefully so he didn't disturb the layer of dust sitting there. He hadn't been away for so long before and now it just felt less like home than before as a hole in his chest opened once again and he opened his window and used a small jutsu to move the air around to blow the dust out the window.

'What's missing?' He mused with annoyed confusion as he opened his bedroom door and saw his team pictures still sitting at the head of his bed with his plant, water still dripping into it with a small contraption Naruto created so if Kakashi forgot to give it water, it was okay and was fed by rain water after he reluctantly let Naruto make a hole in his window frame to feed the pipe through.

He sat down on his bed and looked around stiffly… It just didn't feel like home anymore but what had changed since he was last here that seemed to be missing now? His uniforms were still hung up neatly in the cupboard, picture and plant still in the same place, same bed and bedding… He liked order so of coarse nothing had moved so he began to think back.

Just over one and a half years ago they left and everything was where it was now. They went to Suna first and booked into a hotel with one room and two double beds and he remembered the fight he had with Sonea about sharing and…

'Sonea.' He figured it out, putting his fist into his hand with realisation. They had always shared a bed after that and he had gotten so use to her presence and Tenzo's that he missed it now and he leaned back in his bed and sighed. There was nothing he could do about it now, she was angry at him and he needed to get back into the swing of being a Konoha ninja again and not free… He missed being free… With Sonea and Tenzo…

Kakashi got up and locked up his place, heading to the one place he could always get answers… The memorial stone was his destination then maybe he could weasel a mission out of Tsunade or Iruka if he was at the missions desk.

A/N: So, how was the chapter? I'm still new at writing smutty stuff so let me know if I did a good job. Leave a review please?


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter twenty-four

Sonea had woken up and sat up in bed a few days later and sighed. She had written the report about the Sanbi for Tsunade and her medical examination was booked for that day. The bed was empty and cold and she cursed herself for getting so comfortable with another person in less than two years.

'Correction, you've known him since he was born.' Her conscience reminded her, as she dressed in her regular uniform for the day and tied her hair up in a high pony. She stepped out of her apartment and stretched her wings, scroll in pouch for Tsunade as she looked over Konoha. It had been completely repaired after Orochimaru but the subtle changes were there for her to notice even after all of these years.

She jumped and dived over the edge and took off towards the hospital, watching ninja jumping across the rooftops and the happy civilians in the market, kids playing ninja and family's walking together, enjoying the summer day. She was glade to see the two water tanks on the hospital rooftops had been replaced after Naruto and Sasuke's little fight as she opened the door and headed down the stairs while placing her wings away and twirling the scroll in her hand, heading to reception.

"Sonea-san?" An unsure and familiar voice called as Sonea turned and leaned against the counter of reception with a smile.

"Wow Sakura, you've grown. How have you been?" Sonea asked as she gave the pink haired teen a hug that was returned excitedly.

"Great thank you. I haven't seen you for a while, where have you been?" Sakura asked.

"An extended mission… Just doing the routine check up today. How has your training in medical ninjutsu going?" Sonea asked excitedly as Tsunade came walking up to them with Shizune and Tonton.

"It's been rough." She grimaced but she seemed happy. "But I've learned a lot thanks to Master here." Sakura beamed at her master and Sonea smiled.

"She has exceptional chakra control and stubborn but she's succeeded even if she has a way to go." Tsunade said with pride. Sakura and Sonea said their good byes as she was led to a private room with Tsunade, Shizune and Tonton. The same process happened like last time and Sonea dressed from the hospital robe back into her uniform again.

"Well your body seems to be in peak condition that it can be in however that senjutsu chakra is starting to show signs of damage in your body. How is the pain level from one to ten, ten feeling like a kunai embedding itself into your skin?" Tsunade asked, writing down things on a note pad as Sonea sat down on the other side of the desk.

"Well if a ten is that then I say it's at eleven at best without medication." Sonea stated seriously and Tsunade chewed on her nail.

"How is the medication holding up?" She asked seriously with worry and Sonea just smiled slightly and waved it off.

"It's powerful enough for now… I'm still following the prescribed dosage and it's enough." Sonea explained with a sigh and Tsunade wrote some more notes down.

"Very well then. You may return to missions once your team gets back and be more cautious of injuries since it'll take a lot of chakra and put more strain to your body unless it's unavoidable. Dismissed." Tsunade said with a sigh, dropping the pad down on the desk with her pen. Sonea stood up and placed the scroll on her table.

"Report on the Sanbi you asked for. I'll see you around Tsunade." Sonea said with a bow and a wave to Shizune as she left and tracked down her team's movements as she wondered through the market place. They had just been on a B-ranked escort mission and were currently on their way back with no incidents or injury and she smiled, she should be going on a mission tomorrow.

'_Guess who's back… Back again… Sonea's back… Tell some friends.' _Sonea sung in her conscience and there was amusement and excitement buzzing off of her circle members.

'_Welcome back. How'd your mission go?'_ Storm asked as did some of the others.

'_It went okay but I missed the Hachibi since he was right next to the Raikage at all times.' _Sonea said and she could feel the group's excitement fade with sympathy. _'The Rokubi is a missing nin and disappeared and the Sanbi hasn't been seen since Yagura.'_ Sonea explained further as more sympathy seeped into her conscience from her circle.

'_It should be resurrected by now.'_ Star stated as did a few others in confusion.

'_I know but it doesn't want to be found by the looks of it and so if I can't find it then its highly unlikely anyone else would so it's safe… for now. I'll catch you guys when you return from your missions.'_ Sonea said, breaking the connection and noticing where she had stopped… ANBU headquarters.

Her breath caught as she looked at the ominous building as she cringed with memories from her last mission and clutched at her chest with pained eyes. It was something she never wanted to remember again but now that the ANBU building had an even darker aura around it that task was going to be near impossible. She took a deep breath and reluctantly released her hand from her top and pulled her heavy legs towards the building and waked inside, concentrating on her breathing as she headed for the locker room.

She got to her locker and stood quietly in front of it and sighed, slumping her shoulders as she tried to ignore the uneasy feeling of being watched. 'Raven' was what she read on the door as she unsealed a key from her right ribs and unlocked it to have her breath catch again and fight off anguished tears. She had a new mask now since her other one was destroyed and she picked it up carefully by her fingertips and examined it in the dark light that hung overhead.

"Bringing back some bad memories?" A familiar voice asked as she turned to the doorway and saw a cat mask with red and green stripes on it and she gave him a small smile that she could muster up as she wiped away the tears and looked back down at the mask, nodding. "You really shouldn't be back here again then if you can't even enter the building calmly." Tenzo said once again with concern in his hard voice.

"Does it look like I have a choice? I have no better use anyway plus killing is so second nature to me that the nightmares don't even register anymore. I'm perfect for this job almost a sparkling new soldier without the mental stress to killing… You eventually loose your path in life and I fear the darkness has taken root without me knowing over these so many years." Sonea sighed down to her mask as she rubbed her thumbs over the edge.

"You know… I believe that we all have both light and dark inside of us…" Tenzo began and Sonea shot her eyes up to meet his with surprise before he gave her an eye smile through the mask. "What matters is the part we choose to act on, that's who we really are… Does it really hurt to have both inside of us?" Tenzo asked and she shook her head with astonishment before recovering and she smiled slightly.

"If I say it doesn't hurt me… It only means that I can bear it. My sensei use to say that a lot since I was so insecure of my vampire like abilities and I have always battled with light and dark because of a certain creature but I've survived so far." She said softly with memories as she smiled at her mask. It was black with a beak to it, red around the eyes in a thin outline and white features on the beak to define it more and was shiny compared to her mat black her mask use to be as she put it on and looked through the eyeholes.

"I'll tell you something else that has taken 'ROOT' here… Care to have some lunch with me, maybe some barbeque?" Tenzo suggested, removing his mask with Sonea and he saw the beaming smile she gave him and smiled himself. She placed her mask back and locked her locker while Tenzo went to dress in his jonin uniform as they headed out for barbeque.

"Damn him… ROOT is suppose to be disbanded… How has he gotten hold again?" Sonea swore as she stuffed another burning hot piece of meat into her mouth.

"I think Danzo-sama thinks he can get around Tsunade-sama easier since Sandaime-sama was so attuned to him and caught him at every turn… It also doesn't help that he's on the council officially now either." Tenzo said, watching Sonea with surprise as she ate the burning hot meat without a grimace at the heat.

"So ROOT has infiltrated ANBU then?" Sonea asked with an annoyed hiss under the hissing of the barbeque in the centre of the table.

"Yes. There is no way to prove otherwise and Tsunade is being very careful with who goes out on what missions but there is only so much she can do with these 'black' missions slipping through so frequently. Any precaution she sets up gets bypassed… She's at her wits end with the investigation and controlling them." Tenzo stressed and Sonea bit her lip in thought, this was very like Danzo but without proof she could do nothing and neither could Tsunade, not even a Yamanaka mind reading would do anything since they could be bypassed easily with forbidden jutsus.

"So we'll just have to be careful with the missions we take then." Sonea said harshly with a nod of her head like she was agreeing with herself and Tenzo nodded as well as he blew on a piece of meet when he saw Sonea stiffen up. He looked and saw Kakashi walking along outside and sighed, dipping his meat into some soy sauce.

"Senpai is worried about you." He stated as he ate the piece of meet and she sighed, still watching him but also shrunk back to hide slightly.

"I know… Oh shit, he's coming this way!" She said, ducking under the table. "Pleeaase hide me Tenzo!" She whined up at him with stress to her voice as he laughed and placed some boards across to hide her properly.

"Tenzo… Did you miss barbeque that much?" Kakashi asked with sarcasm as Sonea hid herself and her chakra expertly and stayed perfectly still, letting the smell of meat cover her scent, that was why she loved that specific restaurant.

"I guess I did and I haven't had the time since going back onto duty so quickly… What about you senpai, what have you been doing?" Tenzo asked and she heard Kakashi sit down where she was just sitting and cringed back further.

"A few missions here and there, catching up with friends…" Kakashi began, hearing the hiss of meat cooking on the barbeque.

"And visiting the old friends right?" Tenzo asked with sympathy to his senpai.

"Right… Have you seen Sonea lately?" Kakashi asked and she suppressed a sad sigh, burying her head between her knees she had drawn up.

"No, I've heard she's gone out on an urgent mission with her circle and won't be back for a while… She's trying to get back to being ANBU again after her last failed mission. I heard it was bad." Tenzo said and Sonea wanted to groan… He was getting her back for so much torture she gave him during her mission.

"When was this?" Kakashi asked, Sonea could hear his muffled voice meaning he was eating her meat!

"A week or two before we set out on the mission with her." Tenzo said and she could feel the slight spike in Kakashi's chakra with an increased heartbeat.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked and Tenzo began explaining it and Sonea let a silent tear slip from what people had heard about it and she could feel how stiff Kakashi had become.

"That would explain a lot…" Kakashi said, holding his voice in check… He knew about it now and how it slotted into the timeline of their fight and such and Sonea wanted to kill Tenzo right then. "I never thought such a mission would effect her that she'd have to be off duty for so long."

"It's why such missions are usually given to men and not the maternal females but it was reported to be the first black mission and it was hard on her. We talked about it a little during our time watching Naruto-kun, it truly confused and hurt her and during her sickness… It all makes sense now." Tenzo said and she heard Kakashi stand up.

"That must have been the mission she was muttering and wailing so brokenly over… Thanks for the information Tenzo, see you around." Kakashi said and then suishinned away and Sonea sat back on her seat, eyes dangerous and glowing.

"Run away Tenzo and don't let me catch you." Sonea growled and he hastily suishinned out after dropping money on the table and Sonea followed with a shimmer to go 'hunting.'

"I missed you guys so much!" Sonea squealed, giving her circle a hug later that day at training ground 7. She could feel her seal instantly loosening off slightly and almost sighed with the sudden release but it also released a slight headache.

"We missed you too." Seth said excitedly as he had his arm over Star's shoulders and Sonea smiled gently at the sight of Storm and Sage holding hands discreetly.

"Don't you think you should let him go?" Sage asked, gesturing to the three training stumps and Sonea smirked as everyone turned to look at a beat up Tenzo, tied to the stump with his own wood release and dazed by a genjutsu, looking pretty beat up and roughed around.

"No, he totally deserved it, sticking his nose where it didn't belong." Sonea mused with accomplishment, coming out with a few bumps and scraps that had healed already but a little dirty from the fight.

"Did he say something about Kakashi again?" Storm asked and all attention was put on her again as she blushed and the girls squealed while some of the guys had silly smirks on their faces.

"Something like that yeah… So a lot has changed in the group since I left by the looks of it…" Sonea mused with a smirk of her own as Star blushed, Seth cleared his throat into his hand, Storm smiled happily and Sage looked away with wide and slightly embarrassed eyes. "What do you say to a few drinks at the club and we catch up and I'll give you the low down of the mission, Kakashi and I as well as Tenzo, Jiraiya, Naruto and Kirigakure?" Sonea asked as they began to follow her back to Konoha, alive with conversation and left Tenzo there for a night. He would be safe enough with some traps around him for protection Sonea had set up.

Kakashi found Tenzo tied up the next morning and smirked to himself. Not the way he would usually start his morning but it put him in a good mood for the day to come with Team Kurenai.

"Tenzo?" Kakashi asked, shaking his shoulders but his head just slumped and he noticed the genjutsu then the traps to keep wild animals away and laughed as he focused some chakra and tapped it into him. "Oi, Kohai wake up." Kakashi commanded in his ANBU voice. Tenzo snapped awake, releasing the wood around him and landing face first into the ground and Kakashi laughed as Tenzo mumbled and got up slowly to rest against the post again and try to glare at Kakashi past his black eye.

"Shut up senpai." Tenzo growled as Kakashi wiped away the tears from laughing.

"Classic… Whoever did this to you was sheer genius." Kakashi said, helping Tenzo to stand up, pure mirth in his voice.

"For your information senpai… It was your damn girlfriend that did this to me." Tenzo growled out and Kakashi seemed shocked before eye smiling.

"So she came back yesterday?" Kakashi asked, already catching onto the lie.

"I uh… Yeah she did." Tenzo asked, realising he messed up but Kakashi held his eye smile.

"Run Tenzo run." Kakashi stated calmly as Tenzo scrambled away for another round of playing prey before Kakashi had to head out on his mission.

"Ah Kakashi, late as usual." Tsunade said out as he jumped through the window, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino and Hinata all standing calmly with smiles at Kakashi as they waited for their orders.

"So… Three chunins huh? Congratulations you three." Kakashi congratulated them with an eye smile as he stood with them and waited for orders as the atmosphere became serious like usual.

"You four are the best trackers we have… ANBU spotted some Oto nin passing by the boarders the other day but cannot track them down after sustaining injury and returned back. No other reports have come in since but I don't want Orochimaru's henchmen any where inside of Hi no Kuni! I want you to track them down and send word back to send out a disposal team to take care of them before they can cause any trouble or get any information back to that damn snake. Understood?" Tsunade questioned harshly.

"Yes Hokage-sama." Team Kurenai said in unison and Kakashi eye smiled with his lazy posture.

"No problem Tsunade-sama. Do we have permission to dispose of them if attacked first?" Kakashi asked and Tsunade's eyes flashed with anger.

"You're three brand new chunins and an ex ANBU captain… a whole squadron of ANBU was taken out by four of them, don't risk it and rather retreat if possible Kakashi. That's an order." Tsunade said harshly making Team Kurenai jump but Kakashi just waved it off.

"Understood. Let's meet at the gates in an hour." Kakashi said to the team as they headed out to prepare.

A/N: WooHoo another mission! I hope you enjoyed the chapter and leave a review if you would like


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter twenty-five

Sonea stomped through Konoha a week later with Storm, Star and Seth walking behind her, holding in their laughter behind red faces from laughing earlier and clutching hands to their heaving ribs from laughing to much as they tried to keep their stiff jaws relaxed. She slammed Tsunade's office doors open and Tsunade opened her mouth to shout at the intruder as she looked up but ended up spitting her sake out and laughing her butt off, clutching onto her stomach as her team joined in once again and she huffed, crossing her arms with annoyance.

"It's seriously not that funny." Sonea said with annoyance. She had her hair tied back in a high ponytail, wearing a bra covered with spikes as decoration with tights on underneath a silver belly dancer's skirt and pumps on her feet, nails on her hands and feet painted with fake nails and black nail polish… Yes the mission was a success but with the humiliating down side of actually having to dress up and belly dance… She now knew why she was specifically asked to do this mission.

"You should see how mortified your beautiful face is!" Tsunade shouted out with laughter and now Sonea could hear the hidden ANBU laughing as well. She had on so much make up it wasn't funny, with mascara, eye liner thickly around her eyes, so much base and blush to cover a whole village and lip stick just to top it all off and she had so much make up on the rest of her body as well as she released her suffocating killing intent and the laughter died down instantly and Tsunade cleared her throat.

"Well done Team Sonea. Infiltration complete and so I'll be giving you all two days to recover and…" Tsunade didn't get to finish her sentence as a dull thud and panting was heard and they turned around to see a beat up Pakkun lying on the ground and Sonea rushed over, scooping him up into her arms quickly and healing his wounds.

"Come on Pakkun, stay with me." Sonea stressed to the exhausted and hurt dog as he relaxed into her arms. Pakkun's breathing evened out as he battled to stay conscious as Sonea worked on him with a lump sitting in her throat… Kakashi would never allow one of his ninken to get hurt and send them out unless it was an absolute necessity and he had no other choice as she swallowed hard against her dried throat.

"Pakkun, I need you to explain to me what happened." Sonea asked the pug slowly with each letter pronounced carefully as Pakkun struggled to stay awake.

"Boss and the team were watching the Oto nin… We got seen and attacked… Used himself as a distraction to let us get away and the enemy took him before coming after me." Pakkun explained then his body went limp as he fell asleep and Sonea scowled, her lips pulled into a thin line as she watched the hurt and tired dog resting in her arms.

"Tsunade-sama, find Inuzuka Hana immediately to look after Pakkun, I'm going after them." Sonea said with glowing red eyes and an angry and dangerous look to her face as she stroked the dog with possessiveness.

"You've just come back from a mission, I'll send someone else." Tsunade explained calmly and Sonea's eyes glowed as her form shifted to Jyuubi chakra mode.

"They're too hard to track… Sonea's the only one who could find him." Pakkun said weakly, waking up temporarily again before passing out again.

"What does he mean by that?" Tsunade asked as Hana rushed in and took Pakkun away to be treated properly. Sonea pulled off her skirt and began wrapping her strappings on her thighs and putting her holster and pouches on, putting her leg on the couch to complete the action then took off the spiky decorations off of her top.

"He means exactly that Tsunade-sama." Sonea stated harshly, turning back to her behind her desk.

"They're connected." Storm elaborated and Tsunade seemed confused then slightly angry.

"So… You two are involved?" She asked and Sonea nodded determinedly as she dropped back to demon mode but her eyes still glowed brightly for the daytime. "A bigger reason not to let you go then." Tsunade said stubbornly and Sonea's lip twitched as she growled in her throat.

"You can either give me permission or let me go get my 'rest' Tsunade-sama, with all due respect… If Pakkun says I'm the only one then I'm the only one who can find him with the connection we share plus I've heard you want them disposed of… I'm the perfect team." She smirked with anger, almost arrogantly and Tsunade back up a little in her seat and swallowed.

"Fine then… Take your team with in case the other four are injured, find Kakashi and dispose of every Oto nin you can track down. Those are your orders." Tsunade said with reluctance as Sonea nodded stiffly and swiftly left the office with her team behind her in a brisk walk to the gates and began running in wolf form, following Pakkun's recent scent to find Team Kurenai and Kakashi.

It was still early morning when they came across the destroyed and abandoned campsite the Oto nin were using as they examined the damage and gauged what type of battle took place there the previous night.

"Scatter… If Team Kurenai is injured, they won't be far but don't approach them alone, report back in five minutes." Sonea ordered as she returned to her human form and began digging around the site for clues and the three wolves took off to do their job. By the damage done, it was like she could see the whole battle playing out in her head as she watched and turned to look at the damage caused by bodies and ninjutsu… Shino's bugs, Hinata's gentle fist, Inuzuka's ninken team work and lightning damage caused by Raikiri, Lightning Edge. Some scuff marks caught her attention in the dirt as she followed them and they disappeared and she jumped into the trees to find disturbance in the flora around… it was a large scale battle that took place and many scents of blood, including Kakashi's and she growled.

"Sonea." Storm's voice caught her and she turned to face her team. "We've found them." They took off towards a rocky area nearby and entered the cave carefully in their human forms. The scent of blood got stronger as well as faint presences and chakra preparing for battle as they had already been sensed.

Sonea ordered her team to wait by the mouth of the cave and she barely dodged Gatsuuga heading right for her then a wave of bugs she had to take out with her storm cutting senbons. Barely enough time to engage and dodge attacks made by the gently fist but the movements were calculated and slow as Sonea managed to grab Hinata's wrists gently and restrain her back against her and calm her down.

"Calm down, we're from Konoha as back up, we're friendly I promise. I'm Sonea… Remember from the first chunin exams you guys took?" Sonea said with some stress to her voice but also as calming as possible and soon Hinata ended her struggling and collapsed with Sonea helping her onto the ground with Kiba, Akamaru and Shino rushing over as well as her circle rushing in to help with injuries.

"We must apologise for attacking, why you ask? It's because we sensed your ominous chakra and within our weakened state did not remember or recognise you and your chakra." Shino apologised as their wounds were looked at by Star and Sonea focused on the unconscious Hinata in her arms.

"I understand and was prepared for it. You three have good teamwork, I barely missed you attack combos so well done." Sonea praised with a small smile.

"Heh, we should be promoted to jonin." Kiba said tiredly but still cockily as Sonea smiled and petted Akamaru carefully after taking care of Hinata's injuries and began on Akamaru's with Sage.

"You were fighting for survival, you can't do it all the time. Now let's get back to your camp a little deeper in the cave and we'll talk about the mission quickly so I can end it quickly." Sonea said as they moved deeper within the cave. Kiba and Shino explained the mission details and where it all went wrong and Sonea scowled and bit her lip as she listened then caught something Kiba had said.

"So you know this forest like the back of your hand?" She asked him and Kiba nodded.

"Yeah, I always take Akamaru out for walks and we go pretty far, why?" He asked and Sonea leaned back on her hands and thought this over.

"Have you noticed anything different, maybe like a fallen tree or something stupid like that?" Sonea asked and Kiba seemed confused.

"Yeah… There's this one tree we walked past that I remember was down on its side but there was no evidence of it being new or anything." Kiba mentioned and Sonea wanted to punch something.

" They're hiding there… Genjutsu of the sound type just like their village. Can you take me there?" Sonea asked and Kiba nodded determinedly. "The rest of you stay here and recover, I'll find Kakashi and finish off the mission."

"Take at least Star with you in case Kakashi's wounded." Storm said calmly as Kiba thought they had gone mad.

"We couldn't stand up to them for a second yet you're only sending two people?" He asked in worried outrage and Sonea stood up with him and placed her hands reassuringly on his shoulders and smiled.

"You can feel my chakra and my power and you know I'm nothing like anyone that you have met before… Trust me on this." Sonea said and Kiba sighed.

"Fine but if you die, don't say I didn't warn you." He said, already leading them out the cave as Sonea and Star followed him and began running through the trees. They came up to a tree fallen between two trees and supported by rock formations on each side as they hid in a ditch. Sonea watched with rippling sharingan and sighed… How did Kakashi miss this? "Akamaru said the rocks don't smell like all the others around here." Kiba said in a whisper as they stayed hidden.

"And you'll smell why in a second… Look at the two smaller rocks in the centre of each formation and smell what is carried by the wind." Sonea explained as the wind picked up and Kiba sniffed and stiffened.

"Human scents… How did we miss this?" Kiba wondered with annoyance.

"They used that specific type of rock, volcanic rock to cover their scents and its not natural rock to this type of terrain by the peaks of the rocks… Remember that and compare the shape to others… Now you two wait here until I give Star the signal, understand Kiba?" Sonea asked carefully as she shifted to Jyuubi chakra mode. Her wings forming in iron already as well as the blades on her arms and her ten chained tails covered in purple chakra. Kiba seemed annoyed but nodded reluctantly as Sonea hopped over the ditch and slid down the loose gravely ground down to the rocks and in a flash took out the two guards as they collapsed to the ground and saw through the genjutsu to the entrance.

She slipped in silently, walking on the balls of her feet and put her wings away in the narrow space and continued down the halls of brown swirled walls, finding six other chakra signatures and one faint one as four of them were crowded around the weaker one and she had to hold herself in check as she headed for it, checking around corners and heading down long and thin narrow hallways, barely wide enough for one body, maybe two if they twisted slightly to avoid each other.

"What the…" A voice said out loud but she had hit him across the head and lay him down silently and continued on, she wasn't expecting one of the two men to the side to move so quickly and find her as she turned a corner.

'Blood… Kakashi's blood!' Sonea thought angrily as she caught the scent and she had to concentrate to keep her chakra hidden so she had the advantage of surprise attack. Her eyes glowed sharply through the darkened halls as she continued to move silently deeper into the hideout, head whipping around, eyes wide and alert as she snuck through the halls, all the muscles in her body tense as her tail stayed wrapped around her waist for now. There was still that random nin on the other side of the hideout but she couldn't think about him right then as she told Star about him and to keep watch in case she missed one and continued on.

She gasped with pain in her chest as her eyes went wide and began to water a little with tears… Kakashi was screaming… pure pain filled screams of terror rang through the halls as her breathing picked up with pain and anger as she felt like she wasn't moving quick enough but she had to be cautious as she had already been caught once. They had taken out an ANBU squadron and she was no different and a one-man army. Finally reaching the signatures, blood and screaming, she came to a six inch metal door that looked like a safe as she stared at it but it had its flaws as she found out.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, Jonin of Konohagakure no Sato of Hi no Kuni. Registration number 009720. Son of Hatake Nozomi and Sakumo, Konoha's White Fang…" He kept saying in between screams and breathlessly. It was an ANBU protocol and she gritted her teeth as she focused on the other chakra's in the room and thought of the best plan of action that wouldn't endanger Kakashi at the same time.

She decided on surprise attack as she took one last deep breath and let her chakra run wild as her tails ripped the doors to shreds in a split second and was engaged in battle right away with the four men, using her sleeve blades to cut them as her tails restrained them quickly to take them out as she was attacked ruthlessly. One down as she moved on, eyes darting to keep up with the movements and predicted attacks as she twisted, ducked, flipped and cut into flesh as her flesh was cut into but not felt as the Jyuubi relished in her anger as she pushed on.

Two down then three down and she stopped as a sound of a sword being unsheathed and held against a hollow neck was heard and she looked up from her crouched position to see Kakashi being held as hostage, katana against his neck while the nin smiled. He was in a bad way, his mask was barely there anymore, shirt and such missing showing scalding burns from boiling water, fire and branders as well as whipping marks and other cuts, bruises, fractures and breaks as he dangled in the man's arms, barely conscious. The blade began to dig into Kakashi's neck as he twitched and blood ran down his bruised and bloodied form and she didn't know what happened but he was dead without her moving then she caught Kakashi's chakra as the man dropped down dead and Kakashi fell but she caught him in her arms and he hugged her weakly as she tried to shift him in her arms carefully.

"Kakashi! Come on, stay with me, we'll get you fixed up. Please just hold on!" She begged with panic as she lifted him enough to wrapped her arm under his back and the other under his knees and picked him up and headed for where Star was already advancing, giving Kiba the order to kill the last one if he wanted to but not the unconscious one and he happily went after him with the rest of the team that had arrived once Hinata woke up.

Sonea skidded to a halt on her knees as Star rushed up and began working on Kakashi's broken and battered body while Sonea held him carefully and began working on him as well as her hands glowed the same green and purple like the last time but it was efficient and quicker than Star's green chakra as she vaguely noticed. He looked so terrible as she continued to wipe away tears with the back of her wrists as she worked. He had a large gash in his hair line that had spilt blood down his face in stripes into what was left of his mask, jaw fractured in three places, loose teeth, broken nose, bruised eye like they tried to gouge out his sharingan but failed. He had a concussion as he battled to stay conscious as she continued to look at his other injuries, he had strangulation signs across his throat as well at the deep gash by that katana, broken collar bone, dislocated shoulder and broken upper arm and wrists from struggling with rope burn, broken fingers. He had broken and fractured ribs, bruising already and whip marks with some bruises on his stomach and burn marks with the Otogakure signature and water marks from water as well as what looked like wire burn marks all across his skin.

"I don't have the chakra to heal all of it." Star said with strain as Sonea's chain tail touched her and began feeding her chakra as she grimaced and focused on her control.

"Do what you can for now, I don't have a lot either." Sonea said sadly and Star laughed with strain.

"You have a monstrous amount so don't worry too much, a little chakra exhaustion would be good for you." She mocked and Sonea cracked a slight smile.

"Heal what will keep him stable and save his career." Sonea responded seriously again as she looked at the rest of his injuries. Lower down, she could see his hips had taken some beatings as she saw burn marks on his thighs with whip marks but nothing broken but a fracture or two, just external injuries as she got a little dizzy from the massive amount of chakra being used up as the group met up with the hostage carried between Storm and Sage.

"Sonea-san?" Hinata asked with concern but she gave Team Kurenai a reassuring smile with strain.

"I'm fine, I trust you guys will take care of me if I faint from chakra exhaustion." Sonea said seriously and Hinata nodded while the rest watched on with worry.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Storm asked.

"I'm dead serious, Kakashi's in a bad way but he'll be okay, the more we do here the better the outcome of his healing… I've never seen such bad torture injuries." Sonea said with sadness as she wiped away a tear again and continued as the dizziness got worse but she stayed concentrated. Her vision got fuzzy as she fed Star the rest of her chakra and she passed out, subconsciously missing Kakashi as she dropped Jyuubi chakra mode and fainted with his head on her lap still as they both slipped into unconsciousness.

All he remembered was screaming as he woke up to the worst sound… Beeping. His left eye was bandaged closed while the right one felt stuck together like glue and decided to keep them closed for now if the light shining onto him was bright enough already. His whole body felt numb as he tried to remember how he got into a hospital by the smell and the odd numb feeling of the disinfected sheets starched against his skin. He remembered repeating the kidnapping protocol over and over, not listening to the actual questions anymore then hot water hissing against his skin and screaming and blood, his blood. Then the room lit up and chakra surrounded the room so comforting he wanted to die but then there was pain against his neck again and his lightning natured chakra just reacted then soft skin against his burns.

'_Kakashi! Come on, stay with me, we'll get you fixed up. Please just hold on!' _Sonea's voice he remembered her saying with such panic… What was she doing there? He remembered, the Oto nin wanted information on her and he refused with the torture as he felt her bite marks burning comfortingly as he concentrated on that sweet pain and went through the rest.

'Sonea…' He thought as he remembered lying on his back and looking up at her… She was all bloodied as well, was she okay, then there was other voices and it went blank as he fell asleep again to recover further.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter twenty-six

Voices… There were voices in Kakashi's room as he woke up but couldn't stop the groan of pain as he woke up and tried to move before hands were stilling him gently.

"Kakashi, relax, you're back in Konoha and the mission has been completed, you're going to be fine." Tsunade's doctor voice said to him and he felt a warm cloth over his right eye and he managed to pry it open blurrily until he could see Tsunade clearly, hovering over him with worry.

"My team." He whispered and grimaced harshly with the pain in his mouth and jaw but kept still otherwise as he pushed the words through his sore throat. A straw was held to his lips and he drank down the cooling water as Tsunade's medical jutsu healed the damage from screaming.

"They're all fine with injuries but not fatal. Pakkun will make a full recovery as well. The Inuzuka's are looking after him at this current moment." Tsunade explained then sighed. "Don't give us such a scare next time brat. If I didn't send Sonea out there to get you, you'd probably be dead right now." Kakashi nodded then regretted the motion but then memories registered in his head and his eye widened but he was careful to stay still and not aggravate his injuries.

"Sonea… What about her?" He asked with slight panic, getting some of his voice back even if it was still hoarse. Tsunade took a deep breath and dragged a stool next to his bed and sat down calmly.

"She sustained some serious injuries but she's okay as well but neither of you two will be going anywhere for a while." Tsunade said with a sigh and Kakashi closed his eye with some relief.

"Can I see her?" He asked suddenly and Tsunade laughed a little and Kakashi furrowed his brows as he opened his eye again.

"Fine but after you do you'll have to give me a full explanation on your relationship. You know we need to know these things Kakashi and I should have been alerted as soon as you came back." Tsunade scolded with a smile to her voice as she stood up and pulled the curtain between him and another bed back to reveal Sonea's form lying on her back calmly with sleep and Kakashi turned his head and scowled. She looked pale and a little blue around her lips from loss of blood, her hair was tied back in a plat and she had a cut running across her face from her forehead, across the bridge of her nose and down her cheek with another smaller cut on her other cheek running vertically. He couldn't see much else of her but her hands were cut, bruised and broken, even her elbow was bruised slightly.

"Must have been one hell of a fight." Kakashi mused angrily and Tsunade sighed as she brushed some of Sonea's loose strands of hair behind her ear and she didn't even twitch.

"Apparently it was a massacre in the room you were found in… Six of Orochimaru's right hand men taken out by her, one by Team Kurenai and the other was brought back and is currently being interrogated. She'll be fine Kakashi but she's in a bad way just like you… Get some more sleep, she won't be awake for a while and you have people anxious to see you later." Tsunade said, leaving with a wave over her shoulder and closed the door silently again and soon Kakashi was asleep again.

"Aw come on guys, they're so cute together, just look at them." Storm whined with a laugh from him and a few others Sonea could hear in the room.

"Storm, shut up, you're extremely loud for a hospital." Sonea mocked sleepily as she pried her eyes open and smiled at her circle standing there with Team Kurenai with some bandages on. "So… What have I missed?" She asked with a sore smile as her new scar pulled and she pulled herself to sit up right.

"Nothing but a scolding from Tsunade-sama." Kiba whined out and Akamaru whimpered and Sonea laughed slightly and grabbed a glass of water next to her.

"Yeah I see one in the near future coming for me as well so don't worry." Sonea mused out after taking a sip and setting the glass back down again and leaned back against her pillows gently.

"Yeah, I've already had one." Kakashi mused sleepily and Sonea smiled as she turned her head to see him not trying to move but lying there calmly, he must really be hurting.

"Oh that's right, I have something for you Kakashi." Storm said, pulling a photo out of his pocket and sitting next to Kakashi, showing him the picture and he blushed over his new mask and Sonea's eyes widened as she launched at Storm and tackled him over Kakashi's bed but the photo was thrown up and landed gently on Kakashi's bed as he picked it up and hid it quickly.

"Give me that damn photo Storm!" Sonea growled out as she wrestled with him on the floor, trying to find the photo.

"You don't even know what it was!" Storm shouted out in laughter as she flipped him over and continued to search him.

"It's from the last mission, I can read your mind Storm now dammit where is it so I can burn it!" Sonea said, a faint blush covering her still pale cheeks.

"We'll see you later Kaka-sensei." Kiba waved and Hinata smiled at him as they left with Sonea's circle to leave her wrestling with Storm.

"I think I saw it fly out the window." Kakashi mused with amusement as Sonea stood up and bent over the open window, yelling 'NO' as she searched for it and Storm made his escape with a shimmer and Sonea slumped over the windowsill.

"Dammit, it was bad enough I had to walk through the village to Tsunade's office in that outfit." Sonea said, turning around and leaning her back against the windowsill and Kakashi could see strain in her eyes, as her breathing was a little harder and more pronounced.

"Maybe you should get back into bed Sonea." Kakashi said with worry and she looked up at him and gave in as she nodded and walked slowly back to her bed and slid in carefully with a sigh as she relaxed into sleep immediately. A nurse came in a little while later to place her drip back into her arm and Kakashi relaxed into bed as well as he took out the picture and looked at it.

It was a motion shot of Sonea dancing in a silver belly dancing outfit and Kakashi wondered what her last mission entailed. She was walking with her arms up by her head in a pose, pointing towards the camera delicately, she was smiling as her skirt and hair blew out behind her in a silver skirt and silver bra like top. She was wearing so much make up but Kakashi didn't mind as it really brought out her facial features and he smiled as he put it away and decided to get some more sleep.

Sonea sat up in bed the one morning eating her hospital jelly before Kakashi woke up and stole it from her though she wondered if he was in any condition to move right then. He didn't try to move the day before or was it days ago already, she didn't know as her sleeping during injuries were fickle and changed how she slept. She put her jelly down with a sigh as she traced the scar across her face that was fading quickly but her chakra was still low and dangerously so she couldn't risk moving around a lot, just wrestling with Storm took everything out of her.

She sighed as she stretched her legs out in front of her and scratched at them around the scars she got there as well. She had a lot of scars surprisingly and it just proved how easily the Jyuubi's anger could slip past her control and she knew she had to keep her emotions reigned in if she didn't want the Jyuubi to get an advantage over her. The Jyuubi was laughing in the back of her head before she was pulled into her conscience much like she saw Kakashi in Itachi's Tsukuyomi and there was the Jyuubi chained down, grinning and laughing at her.

'_What do you want?'_ Sonea asked with annoyed disgust.

'_All humans I have witnessed throughout the years enjoy getting battle scars.'_ It growled to her and she crossed her arms.

'_I really don't care but this one right across my face is just going to remind me of you every time I look at it and it'll be too old to fix by the time I have enough chakra to repair and get rid of it.'_ Sonea mused with disgust at the laughing beast.

'_Humans are really entertaining._' It growled out, being pushed out of her conscience as it's chakra seeped from it and she felt it's power connecting with hers and she placed her hands into the ram seal as her scars and wounds hissed closed and disappeared.

"Sonea… are you okay?" Kakashi's sleepy and worried voice piped up as she released the ram seal and looked at him and smiled reassuringly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, pulling out the needles in her arms and Kakashi grimaced slightly as he pulled himself to sit up carefully.

"What was that chakra just now?" He asked her as she hopped up and untied her hair.

"It was mine, don't worry about it." She said with annoyance as she stood next to Kakashi's bed and began re examining his wounds, green and purple glowing around her hands.

"What are you doing?! Tsunade-sama said that…" Kakashi began in a panic but she just held him down and focused.

"That I'm weak, not enough chakra and such? Yeah I've heard that so many times before it's not funny anymore… Let me do this and the quicker you can get out of here, I'm perfectly fine except my breaks and such." She said, removing the bandages around his neck and torso. "How long is Tsunade planning on taking us off duty for?"

"She didn't give us a time frame… Um, thank you for coming to get me and my team." Kakashi said with a blush, looking away as she poked and healed his ribs and gashes over his body. Braced and bandaged hands grabbed the sides of his face gently as her warm lips were pressed against his for a chaste kiss and she kissed his forehead.

"I'll always come and find you Kakashi. And I'm sorry for over reacting over… You know…" She said, looking away with a blush but she was smiling. "Do you want to get out of here?" She asked him with a crooked and embarrassed smile and Kakashi strained his neck slightly to kiss her again.

"Sure but it'll take a lot of help from you though." Kakashi said with a slight embarrassed smile as Sonea finished up and helped him to stand carefully with most of his weight on Sonea as she opened the window. "We won't make it if we go out this way." He whined and Sonea rolled her eyes and threw him onto her back and dropped out of the window, forming her wings and took flight quickly.

"See, no problem." Sonea mocked and Kakashi grunted.

"At least I now know how you escape the hospital so easily each time… At least you're using your powers for good." He mocked back and Sonea laughed underneath him as she landed on her tower and supported his weight again. "Why'd we come here?" He whined and Sonea knocked him gently on the head.

"First of all its safe and secure and the only ones who can enter is my circle so Tsunade can't even come here and drag us back and second of all, it confines you to only doing things around my apartment so you can rest and heal properly so its win-win really." Sonea said with a slight shrug of her shoulders as she set Kakashi down on her bed carefully and Kakashi squirmed slightly to get comfortable.

"Yeah, win-win for you I'm sure." He mocked with a slight laugh as he raised his arms carefully up behind his head. Sonea shook her head with a smile with her hands resting gently on her hips.

"You want something to eat or drink?" She asked him and his stomach growled and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly with an awkward grin since she got rid of the hospital mask he was wearing earlier. "I'll take that as a yes." She said as she turned around and then collapsed onto one knee and Kakashi sat up and flinched from pain as she rested one hand on the bed as slight support, her fist digging into her purple sheets. She sat on the bed after pulling herself up and examined her right knee as Kakashi watched, sitting cross-legged on her bed.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kakashi asked, putting his hand on her back. She twisted around and gave him a pained but reassuring smile.

"Yeah, fine, just look in the draws to your right there for a navy blue knee brace." Sonea asked as Kakashi twisted carefully and got it out, passing it to her as she slipped it onto her right knee and bent it a few times. She noticed him watching her curiously and with some worry as she sighed and stood up, placing some weight onto her knee to test it out. "It's an old injury caused by the Kyuubi that was being controlled by Madara when he was fighting Hashirama. It was set wrong and so it's a bum knee and it gives me problems now and again." She explained and Kakashi found that quite fascinating.

"What else have you been left out of?" Kakashi asked as she walked into the other room and he lay back again.

"How about the naming of the village? Everyone knows that it was Madara who came up with the name but I actually suggested naming the village by what it was hidden by. Hm let's see… I really don't remember anything else, maybe some information during Minato's time but that was negligible anyway since you knew most of the details concerning your sensei." Sonea shouted back as he heard her moving around the kitchen and he hummed in thought.

She eventually hobbled back into the room, snacking from the large bowls she was carrying in her uninjured arm , much, and sat down hard on her bed next to Kakashi as she leaned back against her pillows and set the bowls down between them as Kakashi sat up right again slowly and laughed at the contents of the bowls as there were three of them from very large to smaller bowl. The large one had popcorn in it, the medium sized one had fruit salad and the smaller one had little candy coated sweets in it as he picked up a piece of popcorn and hummed in appreciation.

"Salt and vinegar is my favourite flavour." Kakashi beamed as he ate the popcorn quicker and Sonea smiled with a piece between her teeth before eating it. He ate a bit slower when he wanted something to drink and opened his mouth to ask when he remembered Sonea was injured too and began to sit up and was just about to stand when a tail wrapped around his upper arm and he stopped moving. He turned to look at Sonea who was looking at him with a scowl, still eating.

"What do you want?" She asked, sitting up and pulling him gently to lie back down again as she stood up and waited.

"I was just going to grab something to drink." He said innocently.

"What do you want, we have everything." She said, waiting patiently for his answer and he blushed and fiddled slightly. He didn't want her to have to go down to her club to get something.

"What do you have here?" He asked again and Sonea huffed.

"Just tell me what you want, I honestly don't mind getting it for you so just say the word. Anything." She elaborated sternly with her hands on her tilted hips so he couldn't fight back and he sighed, giving in.

"A glass of water?" He asked and Sonea rolled her eyes.

"Come on Kakashi, stop pussy footing around and tell me or I'll get you something you definitely won't like." She threatened playfully and Kakashi groaned as he thought quickly.

"Fine, a glass of water, a beer and some orange juice." He said and she raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

"See, it wasn't so hard now was it." She said, turning to her sliding doors in her room and stepping out, the net curtaining floating about with the wind as he watched her calmly walk out and just step off the edge of the tower, almost having a heart attack when he remembered this was Sonea. He lay back again and looked around her room that was impersonal. There was her double bed with plain dark purple sheets on it with normal wooden side tables that Kakashi quickly found out was empty with a kunai in them and what looked to be hidden seals around the outer edge of the draw but he didn't pry as he closed them and hummed, looking around again. There was a desk in the far corner with a tin with pens in it, again nothing personal and Kakashi sighed.

She was worse than he was as he saw nothing that said this place was lived in by one occupant and not actually a hotel of some sorts. The only thing was her clothes that were neatly folded up or hung up in an order that was so normal and simple.

"What's wrong?" She asked, startling him slightly as she stood by the door, with the drinks on a tray, her face etched with worry and slight confusion.

"Nothing, just looking around, that's all… Is there anything here that you like or keep?" Kakashi asked awkwardly, not knowing quiet how to phrase his question as she put the tray of drinks down on the side table and sat down again.

"What? Like mementos?" She asked him as she picked up a purple drink and sipped at it and Kakashi nodded as his eyes were torn away from the room to look at her. "Nope, anything important stays in scrolls and seals on my body, nothing stays in something as fragile as a building." She said and in a twisted way it made sense.

"Photo's, clothing? Like what?" Kakashi asked with curiosity as he drank his beer she passed to him. Sonea stared at the wall ahead of her as she stirred her drink with her straw as concentration was written across her face.

"I have a photo album hidden in a secret passage in my room. My locket from Sora around my neck… My katanas in a seal on my left hip. There's nothing else I guess." She said with a shrug, sipping her drink almost sadly.

"Why is that?" He asked sadly as well as he put his hand on her thigh comfortingly.

"Things become fragile as they age." She said, choking on a slight sob at the end, setting her drink down as she sat forwards and clenched her teeth and fists, bleeding through the bandages and braces. She cursed in a whisper as she brought her knees up to her chest and ran a clawed hand through her hair painfully slow.

"Age is a really touchy subject with you." Kakashi sighed and her head whipped around, her eyes glowing as she scowled with anger. Kakashi caught his flinch but held an open gaze at her as she let her legs fall back down again as she ran her hands along her legs tiredly, almost defeated.

"You're right… It is. Immortality is great at the beginning, the stage most of my circle members are in currently but it begins to get a little lost and lonely… I'm sorry, alcohol tends to do this to me." She said sheepishly but her eyes still looked a little empty as Kakashi leaned against the headboard and opened his arms for her as she scooted back and leaned into him.

"I think your dragon summons and circle has kept you grounded for all of these years… I could never imagine myself living like you have done proving how strong you really are but I'm glade you're here right now, even if you have gone through a lot of heart ache to get here. You're my life now." He said, kissing the top of her head as she pushed the nearly empty bowls away and pulled her navy blue comforter up around them and she promptly fell asleep.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long wait! I've been so busy and I've been stuck in bed as well with a strained muscle on my hip that hurts every time I twitch. Here's the next chapter/s and I hope you enjoy! R&R

Chapter twenty-seven

Kakashi hummed and squirmed a little at a familiar tingling sensation as he lay on his back and opened his eye to see what was going on around him lazily. A hand on his hip stilled him as he registered what that tingly feeling was.

"You should be resting and not healing me to perfection." He said lazily. Sonea had a look of concentration on her face, sitting cross-legged, hands on his wounds, glowing green and purple, her hair Toulouse with the navy blue comforter sitting around her shoulders.

"You always seem to heal better when I do it so shut up and take it." She said, concentration and slight strain evident in her voice.

"What about your wounds, they're just as important." He said, sitting up on his elbows and finding very little stiffness or soreness. 'How long has she been up healing me?' He wondered with worry.

"They'll get there and always heal faster than a normal person anyway." She said with a shrug as the tingling sensation stopped but she left her hands on his stomach, still staring where there use to be a deep gash and burn marks. He sat up all the way and caught her hands in his gently as he examined all of the injuries she still had. Her hands were both still bandaged with the left one having a brace around her wrist. She had little strips of bandages along her arms from where blades had cut at her. There was bandaging around her chest over her right shoulder and all the way down her abdomen. One of her ankles was bandaged up then there was the blue knee brace on her right knee.

Sonea could see and sense his slight distress as he examined her and did an internal examination to see how far she had healed. She took her hands from his and took the bandage off of her right hand and flexed it carefully before moving to the bandages on her arms then to the large bandage around her shoulder and abdomen. She held the joint as she moved her shoulder around carefully, happy to find they left her bra on underneath the bandaging. She slipped the knee brace off and unbandaged her ankle and moved that around carefully as well.

"Everything has nearly healed including my wrist." She said, taking the brace off of her wrist and setting it on top of the pile of soiled bandages next to her. "You on the other hand have a long way to go unfortunately. So roll over like a good boy so I can do your back." She instructed and Kakashi sighed as he rolled onto his stomach and lay there as the tingling started up again and he closed his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he was comfortable with another person touching him so sensually and carefully that he hummed and hugged the pillow tighter, feeling so calm and content with someone touching him so openly. He didn't notice the bed shifting slightly until he groaned when fingers pressed along his spine and clicked them back into place.

"Whatever you're doing, don't stop." Kakashi groaned out as she massaged his shoulders, mindful of the new scars she didn't have enough chakra to heal yet.

"Whoa, Okay didn't need to see that!" Storm's voice cut in and they both look to the door to see him with his hand up by his face, looking away and Sonea groaned and rested her forehead on Kakashi's back that was jumping up and down with laughter.

"Relax, she was just giving me a massage." Kakashi called to him as he hesitantly looked back and Sonea was sitting on the bed now instead of straddling Kakashi.

"Anyway…" Storm began with a blush as they noticed he was in his ANBU uniform and mask pulled to the side of his head so it was official business. "Tsunade-sama wants to see both of you ASAP."

"If this is about leaving the hospital, tell her to come and get me herself." Sonea challenged and crossed her arms, pouting like a naughty child.

"It's not. It's about the Oto nin we brought back with us. We've been interrogating him for the last few days since you came back. We've found many mental blocks that seem to have been created by a sharingan." Storm explained and both faces hardened at the mention of the sharingan as Kakashi sat up as well now.

"A possible lead to Orochimaru and Sasuke?" Sonea asked and Storm nodded. "We'll be down there now, just give us a few minutes." Sonea instructed and Storm nodded and shimmered away. "Let's get going." Sonea said, standing up and fetching her regular uniform from her cupboard.

"Wait, I'm still a little confused, why does Tsunade-sama want to see us?" Kakashi asked and Sonea smiled, turning to face him.

"If it's a certain genjutsu created by the sharingan then only the sharingan can decipher it… I could imagine how frustrated Inoichi is plus once we break it down there will be information on Orochimaru and Sasuke… To have such a strong genjutsu placed on you, they must know something important." Sonea said, heading into the bathroom and the shower was heard.

"So one of us could possibly decipher it then?" Kakashi called, lying back on the bed.

"Exactly." He heard her say and the water stop. She came out of the bathroom in her regular collared shirt, lycra shorts and her half skirt dragon skin as Kakashi stood up and headed into the shower next while Sonea shimmered to his apartment to grab his uniform quickly for him.

"Race you there." He said with a wink and ran out, jumping over the edge of the tower and Sonea shook her head with a determined and amused pout before running after him and skidding down the side of her tower like he was doing a few metres ahead of her. He jumped to the first building and she followed, taking a slightly shorter rout, catching up quickly at full speed, stretching out the muscles they hadn't used for a few days. Sonea dived head first through Tsunade's window and rolled on the ground, ending in a crouch the same time as Kakashi grabbed onto the frame and swung his legs through, landing lazily as one hand instantly went into his pocket and his slouch back.

"If I didn't need your help right now, I would have thrown both of you out by now." Tsunade said angrily through gritted teeth as Sonea stood up calmly in one smooth movement and stood calmly. Tsunade took a deep breath before standing up and heading towards the door. "Follow me." She said, leading them into the lower levels of the tower. They stepped into an interrogation chamber with the familiar man sitting in the middle, chained to a chair, ANBU and members of the T&I department standing around looking a little frazzled and annoyed.

"You can give it a go first Kakashi." Sonea said as they stood there, her with her arms crossed and Kakashi loosing his lazy slouch behind Tsunade. He breathed a sigh and walked up to the man, sliding his hitai-ate up. Inoichi came up to them and touched each of their foreheads as Kakashi tried his luck first with his sharingan open. The man struggled against the chains and began to scream as concentration on Inoichi's face deepened and Kakashi stood rigidly. Inoichi gasped as his hand flew away, almost as he had been slapped and wiped at his forehead.

"Now I can't even get anywhere near his memories, yet alone the blockage." Inoichi said with pants and Kakashi stepped back, seeming a little worn down as well. Sonea stepped up as another T&I member did but she held up her hand and he stopped in confusion.

"Do you need him alive after I extract the information?" Sonea asked coldly, watching the panting and slumped man in the chair with his eyes closed.

"If it's the only way then no." Tsunade said and Sonea regarded this for a second before she nodded and stepped closer until she was standing just in front of him.

"Hold him down and his eyes open, facing me near enough." Sonea instructed as her hands came up into the ram seal and she began focusing her chakra. The man seemed to comprehend what she just said as ANBU stepped up to him and began struggling even worse, the chains cutting into his skin as he cried out for mercy. Kakashi watched, as it seemed she just shut down completely as she closed her empty eyes to concentrate as she shifted with a slight grimace into Jyuubi chakra mode.

As soon as he saw her eyes open, the man ended his struggling and became entranced by the rippling sharingan as he sat there obediently as her rippling sharingan seemed to twist and turn like the a safe would. This was a side of no one you wanted to see, the cold blooded killer side and Kakashi felt his chest tighten as he saw no emotion in her movements or her eyes and face nothing but the mission.

'I didn't really become like this after father and Minato-sensei's death did I?" Kakashi questioned himself in his mind as he felt her chakra practically vibrating in the room as she took one last step up to him and took one hand from the ram seal and placed it against the man's forehead as the chakra bust out and in a second it was over as Sonea stepped away coldly and dropped Jyuubi chakra mode, staring at the now dead man with nothing to her eyes.

"And?" Tsunade asked, breaking her from her trance, a little bit of warmth returning to her features once again.

"I'll tell you everything I know." Sonea said coolly, heading towards the briefing room off to the side and stepping through with just Tsunade and two ANBU, the door seeming to close with finality. The T&I members left, chatting among themselves as ANBU took the dead man away with medics to be studied and such and Kakashi just stood there.

She walked out the room calmly and blinked when she saw something conflicted in Kakashi's eye. He had his hands in his pockets, slouched and staring at the concrete floor, stained by years of blood being cleaned off.

"Is there a problem?" She asked, startling him as he looked up and laughed sheepishly, scratching his head with an eye smile.

"No, no problem." He said as she walked up to him and they began walking out of the tower again.

"You know…" She began as they walked and he looked down at her. "The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem… Do you understand?" She asked with her own eye smile up at him and he cracked a slight smile under his mask.

"And people call me cryptic." Kakashi mused.

"Want to grab some lunch? I'm starving." Sonea said dramatically as she grabbed Kakashi's wrist and dragged him after her and Kakashi was a bit dumbfounded by her complete change again as he was dragged off for barbeque.

He watched with slight awe as she held the piece of meat up to her mouth with a grin with as much vigour as Naruto would, eating ramen. Kakashi watched as her slightly longer canine teeth glinted in the light of the restaurant as she chowed down on a rare piece of meat. He slipped down his mask to put a cooled piece of meat in his mouth before pulling it up again and chewing slowly.

"I take it barbeque is your favourite food?" He asked with slight amusement as she smiled at him and nodded with a hum of agreement. He chuckled as he saw some soy sauce on her cheek right next to her mouth as he stood up, placing one hand on the table and leaning towards her as she froze and watched with wide eyes. He saw her swallow as he pulled his mask down and licked the sauce away before sitting down again like nothing happened. She blinked a couple of times, hesitantly bringing her hand up to her mouth before going the deepest shade of red he had ever seen someone go.

"Kaka-sensei and Sonea-san…" A familiar girl's voice piped up and you could see the slight annoyance in his one eye as Sonea tried to will her blush away but she couldn't forget what Kakashi just did as she cleared her throat and sat calmly.

"Hello Ino-chan. Sakura." Kakashi said to the two girls as they walked up to the booth and he gave them his best eye smile.

"I never would have thought to see you two here, you're normally at Ichiraku's?" Sakura questioned as each girl sat down on opposite benches next to them and Kakashi groaned low in his voice that only Sonea caught over the hiss of the barbeque and she smiled at the girls.

"Well Kakashi likes their Miso soup but you see we go there so often with Naruto and your team that I dragged him to my favourite food place." Sonea explained as she ate another rare piece of meat and Kakashi placed his chop sticks down meaning he wasn't going to eat while Ino and Sakura were around. They continued to talk like Kakashi wasn't there as he just listened and stared out of the window as the girls spoke about crushes that Sonea stayed cryptic about and cute guys on their teams, spurring the girls rivalry over Sasuke.

"Haven't you ever had a crush on one of the guys on your team Sonea?" Ino asked her, her elbows on the table and her chin on her palm.

"No although Storm did have a crush on me a long time ago." Sonea stated as she paid for the bill, heading out of the restaurant already.

"Storm? Which one's him again?" Ino asked Sakura.

"The emo one with the black hair and the greenest eyes I have ever seen." Sakura swooned and Ino did too as Sonea smirked and rolled her eyes. "What about you Kaka-sensei?" Sakura asked, snapping him out of his musing.

"No but the girl on our team did have a crush on me but my other teammate had a crush on her." He said, half hearted.

"But Star did have a crush on Kakashi a while ago and by the way, Storm's taken." Sonea said, making Kakashi blush over his mask slightly.

"Taken! By who?" They asked with saddened outrage.

"By Sage." Sonea said, turning to face them one last time and watched it dawn on the girls' faces. She smirked when they were in a state of shock and grabbed Kakashi's hand to run.

"EH!?" Was heard by the confused and heart broken girls as Sonea jumped over a rooftop and down into an alleyway with Kakashi.

"Wait!" Ino said, recovering first. "Did… Sonea just grab Kaka-sensei's hand?" She asked Sakura as they mused it over but then grinned and waved a hand dismissing it as they went to find someone else to bug for the day.

As soon as Kakashi landed in the alleyway, his mask was pulled down and his mouth became preoccupied with a probing tongue as he was pressed up against the wall. He growled as he grabbed her hips roughly and pulled her against him as she smirked into the kiss, her tongue stroking against his sensually and teasingly. He swapped them around quickly and pressed her up against the wall and grabbed her roughly again by her ribs as she broke the kiss and hissed. He panicked and jumped away, leaning against the dumpster on the other side of the alleyway, watching with wide eyes. Did he hurt her?

"I'm sorry, did I hurt you? I know I'm a bit rough an I really don't know my own strength and…" Kakashi began rambling with worry before a finger was held up to his exposed lips and he looked up to see she had shed a tear or two from the pain but she smiled at him.

"You could never hurt me… I guess I'm not as healed as I thought." She said, twisting to the side slightly to show him bruising still and a healing rib. Kakashi was biting his lip as he watched the bruise almost throb and he stepped forwards hesitantly and rested his hand gently across it and wrapping his other arm around her from behind, gently caressing the bruise with his fingertips. He flipped her up gently in his arms as he kissed her quickly and she pulled his mask back on with a small smile as she straightened it across his nose.

"You've taken care of me so now it's my turn to take care of you." He said, jumping back onto the rooftops and jumping in the direction of his own apartment, her bruised rib resting against his stomach after unzipping his flak jacket so it wouldn't jostle and anger the break anymore than he had already.

"You're really too sweet Kakashi." She said as she touched his cheek and leaned up to peck him. He blushed over his mask and had something so pure and unreadable in his eye as he looked at her and it took her back to when he was just a kid and not a ninja and it made her heart swell.

They reached his apartment as he swung her gently into one arm with his raised leg underneath her, supporting some of her weight as he pulled out his keys and unlocked the apartment and kicked the door closed after shifting her back into both of his arms again. He toed off his shoes and then leaned his leg up onto the little step, sitting her on his knee as he pulled her shoes off and proceeded to carry her to his room and gently lay her on his green shuriken print bed.

"Do you want anything?" He asked as he slipped his flak jacket off, hanging it on the back of his desk chair and proceeded to remove his pouch and holsters.

"Some tea would be wonderful." She said, sitting up slightly to slip her pouch and holsters off, putting them on the side table as Kakashi headed to the kitchen. She began thinking about what she said to him earlier and chuckled at the thought of anyone seeing this side of Kakashi, it would completely freak them out and they would probably have a complete breakdown of confusion and she smiled as it hurt to laugh at the thought. Imagine if Sakura or Naruto saw this side to their perverted and lazy sensei, it would be so hilarious to see their reaction. "You know people are going to wonder if we have clinomania soon." Sonea mused as she was passed her tea and Kakashi sat down next to her and leaned back.

"What the hell is that? It sounds like some disease?" He mused with amusement as he pulled his hitai-ate off and his mask down to sip his tea.

"The excessive desire to stay in bed." She answered simply.

"No, you've got it wrong…" He said and Sonea looked at him with confusion. "It's called 'I've got a really hot girlfriend in my bed next to me'." He said and he flat out laughed while she punched him, blushing hard before turning back to her tea with a pout, scooting to the edge of the bed.

"You're such a bastard you know that." She muttered and he laughed a little again.

"Hey, I have a question for you." He said like a kid, rolling onto his side to face her as he traced the skin on her upper left arm.

"And what's spiked your curiosity?" She asked, placing her empty cup down as the sun was beginning to set through the window.

"How come you don't have the ANBU tattoo?" He asked and she blinked before the tattoo showed up and Kakashi fell of the bed with surprise and Sonea leaned over to see if he was all right when he was sitting up on his elbows rubbing his head.

"Did that answer your question?" She asked, poorly hiding her amusement and he just glared up at her.

"How do you do that?" He asked, standing up, still rubbing his head.

"I don't know I've always been able to do it… Maybe it's part of my blood abilities… I don't know." She said with a yawn as Kakashi sat back down on the bed and removed his vest to sit in his sleeveless shirt.

"If you're tired you can sleep." Kakashi said, barely above a whisper as she nodded and proceeded to fall asleep and Kakashi pulled her gently to him and also proceeded to fall asleep even if it was still early evening.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter twenty-eight

"Taicho, wake up." A voice ordered harshly as Kakashi groaned and rolled the weight off of his chest to star at a familiar red and green cat mask.

"Tenzo… What do you want?" Kakashi asked, wiping at his eyes as he sat up and swung his legs over.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see our old ANBU team. Something about back up and that you're not officially retired from ANBU." Tenzo said with a shrug.

"I'll be there now." Kakashi said and waved him off before waking Sonea with kisses and nibbles and she looked tired and worn down from Jyuubi chakra mode the day before and the massive amount of chakra she used.

"Wha's wrong?" She asked sleepily, taking a deep breath and rolling over to face him.

"Tsunade-sama has called for me right away so I have to leave. You can stay here if you want." He said, already dressing in his jonin uniform.

"No, it's fine, I want to see if I can also take a mission today so I'll go home and I'll see you later." She said, standing up, fixing her hair and placing her pouches and holsters back on. One last kiss outside his apartment, they went their separate ways and Sonea just fell back into bed with a headache and proceeded to sleep the day away.

She felt very self-loathing as she woke up as the sun was going down as she had a shower just to chase away the rest of her headache and proceeded into her club just to sing (1) her sorrow away and do a little catching up in the gossip around the village and country.

"Did you hear? Orochimaru has apparently been seen around Hi no Kuni boarders?" A voice caught her attention at the bar as she scanned through the other conversations with her ears but found nothing else as she focused back to the previous conversation.

"… the chunin exams wouldn't interfere again. Apparently they've sent out ANBU squads but to go up against a whole army, they aren't getting far. There is a fear there may be another invasion." Now this caught her attention. Okay this was gossip but it normally wasn't too far from the truth especially the special jonin she had been listening in on said it. What does Orochimaru want in Konoha again? He has Sasuke and he probably knew Naruto wasn't around, there was nothing but Konoha's destruction itself that he could want but he wouldn't be reckless and rush into it, there was something more to this. She got up and left into the cool night air for Tsunade's office and glad to see her office light still on as she jumped through the window.

"So… I heard you need an army." Sonea mused at the not impressed and stressed Tsunade.

"And where'd you hear this from?" She questioned harshly, putting her pen down with a dull thud of annoyance.

"Rumour has it there might be another invasion by our snake like friend and his new pupil… You need an army, you have one." Sonea said seriously, opening her arms wide and gesturing at herself.

"You're weak and need to be protected…" Tsunade began.

"And what the hell do you think would happen if Orochimaru pushes through and gets to Konoha? I'd be screwed if that happened and so would Naruto. You know my skill set and abilities and face it, there's no other choice, even Shikaku would agree with me." Sonea stated logically, staring straight into her rebellious brown eyes. "How many ANBU's have you lost already out there?" Sonea questioned and Tsunade sighed sadly.

"Too many… Shizune, fetch Shikaku and Shikamaru for me to hear this and decide." Tsunade ordered sadly as she sat there and stared out over Konoha. They were called for immediately and the situation explained and decided that Sonea had the skills to bring down an army and Tsunade lost the battle with Sonea who was on her way to the boarders as back up within an hour.

The night air made her shiver from the cold and lonely gust running through the trees she jumped through. She was perfectly hidden on that starless and moonless night as she headed for the coordinates sent by ANBU earlier that day and Sonea was hopping to catch a scent quickly to follow and help them plough through the army. Apparently she had only sent out three squads of ANBU and one squadron was missing while the other one was badly wounded and possibly facing a fatality already.

The coordinates were clear as she looked around, the sound of a nearby lake caught her attention as well as a scent heading that way already so she followed it down to a large lake running through the country she vaguely remembered it running into Otogakure's territory and she growled as she saw the camp on the other side, the enemy. There was a rustling behind her as she silently cursed and ran for the water, diving in as soundlessly as she could and staying under as she heard voices.

"What the hell was that?" A female voice with anger on high alert said as a light was shone onto the water she just jumped into and she swam deeper as ninja walked out onto the water and shone their lights down into the almost clear lake. She swam as close to the shore as possible with it still being deep and covered by plant life and roots from the trees above as she slowed down her heart rate to stay under longer, they really were persistent bastards.

Sonea knew she had to find the ANBU by sunrise as she would be a sitting duck out in daytime and that night was perfect to slip through any defence for her as she blended naturally into the shadows without a jutsu. As the lights turned down stream, she made a swim for it up stream, focusing on holding her heart rate down to swim as far as she could without surfacing. The voices and commotion faded as she surfaced as silently as she could and took a deep breath through her nose as she couldn't risk exposing anymore of herself out of the water as she continued up stream, the water level up to her nostrils so she could breath and hear clearly.

There was slight splashing up ahead but voices from behind her rose again as she took a deep breath, exposing her mouth for a breath of air and momentum as she swam down and then carried on up stream again, looking through the top of the water to see who was up ahead of her when she felt it was an extremely familiar chakra and she hopped soundlessly out of the water, ran and grabbed the poor confused ANBU member and hid behind a tree with his back pressed against her as she held him around his neck and shoulders and her hand over his mouth to keep his muffled panic down when he stilled in her arms as Oto nin looked through the woods with torches before carrying on up stream. The voices faded too far and she finally let the man go as he gasped for air silently.

"Sonea… You saved my life, thank you." Tenzo said behind his cat mask.

"No problem… I think I left too little of a water trail for them to see clearly tonight so we were both lucky. I caught them onto my trail down stream not too far from the coordinates that were sent earlier. What were you doing out here on your own Tenzo?" Sonea asked with a worried whisper as they began a silent run back to their base.

"I went to get water and wait for Katsu to come back. He went down stream earlier today to set traps and hasn't returned." Tenzo said and Sonea cursed with a scowl.

"That camp seemed way to calm to have been attacked so I don't even think he made it that far from where I came from. How many are there of you left?" Sonea asked, cringing with the answer that she knew was coming.

"Six… Crane died a few hours ago." Tenzo said and Sonea kept silent… He was a part of Kakashi and Tenzo's old team.

"I'm sorry for your loss. Who's left and who's missing?" She asked after a short silence for Crane.

"There's me, Badger, Hawk, Fang, Swan and Ookami. Missing or dead is Crane, Katsu, Owl, Leech, Kit and Mouse." Tenzo explained as they slowed down as they were approaching the camp and double-checking before they entered the general area. She knew Tenzo was with Crane and Badger. The other team was Katsu, Swan, Kit and Mouse and the last team was Fang, Hawk, Owl and Leech… Ookami…?

"Please don't tell me Ookami is who I think it is, he should be retired!" Sonea asked in an outraged whisper, coming up to a curtain of weeds against a wall.

"Hokage-sama had no other choice, he was fit for the job and not officially put into retirement, the papers were postponed and then lost with Sandaime's death. He was quite surprised to hear this from Hokage-sama herself a few days ago." Tenzo explained as he stopped and moved the weed curtain away as Sonea stepped into a cave and she was lead down a few earth passages made by a jutsu. "So you're not here on ANBU orders then?" He asked with a normal voice as the passages twisted and turned, splitting off occasionally.

"No however, my codename is still Raven, I didn't have time to change and such. I'm the only back up Tsunade could send out even if she was extremely reluctant to let me go, I had to bring Shikaku and Shikamaru in to persuade her." Sonea almost groaned out and Tenzo chuckled as the passage became light thanks to a fire she could smell burning.

"Back up's arrived." Tenzo deadpanned as they entered a room where the ANBU were sitting, some with their masks and some without.

"One person?!" Badger yelled out, standing with outrage. She knew this seemed like a sick joke to the young ANBU as she would as well if she was in their situation. "Is this some sort of sick joke? She's not even in ANBU gear!" He hissed out.

"Stand down Badger, she's all the help we need and could be spared, we're even lucky we got any back up at all." Kakashi ordered harshly and Badger backed down, sitting once again and staring at the fire angrily. Sonea's eyes flashed through the room and she could see Badger was pretty banged up as was Fang and Swan so she was left with Ookami, Neko and Hawk.

"So… We're fighting a loosing battle are we?" Sonea asked as she sat down by the entrance and leaned against the wall.

"I'm afraid so Raven-sensei." Kakashi said sadly and there was a gasp or two from the group.

"The 'Legendary Raven-sama' of ANBU?" Swan asked with a soft voice filled with surprise.

"They wouldn't send just anyone out on their own especially to a beat up group like yours. This is the main frontline and the enemy is advancing into Hi no Kuni too quickly. It took a lot of convincing on my part to Tsunade-sama but it worked and now we can finally take out some of their forces and hopefully push them back. Please explain the situation to me." Sonea asked and listened intently as Kakashi explained the tough situation. They had come up against an army early on their scouting and had to engage and retreat because the sheer numbers were drowning them. It was also likely that Kit and Mouse were dead but a possibility that the others were alive and Sonea chewed on her lip.

"Kabuto showed up as well." Kakashi added and her eyes flashed with anger.

"Then we take him out first, sneak past the soldiers to their leaders, it'll scramble the army. Remember most of Orochimaru's henchmen are livid followers, they may get angry after we take them out and make mistakes, take them out easily." Sonea explained.

"Are you insane!" Badger shouted out again, pain and strain leaking into his voice. "No one can take on Orochimaru, it's suicide!" He added and Sonea sighed as she calmed down and eyed him straight, making the young man flinch.

"You must be one hot headed kid, if you shout any louder we'll be discovered now shut your mouth and listen." Sonea ordered icily calmly and he flinched again. "IF Orochimaru does show his ugly face, I'll take him but from what I've heard, he's not in a very great condition at the moment and he would only show up if he's advanced into Hi no Kuni far enough to warrant his presence but Kabuto will definitely be around proving how serious this is as he's his right hand man. Push Kabuto into a corner and he'll run." Sonea explained to the ANBU listening intently.

"So… Do you have a plan?" Tenzo asked and Sonea smirked, making most of them in the room shiver.

"Ookami… How's your new 'power' coming along?" Sonea asked with a smirk and she could swear she could see one under his cloth mask as well.

"I can use it once without being too drained… What do you have in mind?" He asked, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"I need speed, endurance, power and long ranged attacks." Sonea said, eyeing them.

"Neko and I have those. Hawk, how are your long ranged attacks?" Kakashi ordered.

"Yes sir! I have Fire and Water attacks for long range." He said, saluting Kakashi.

"I'm coming too." Badger said, struggling to stand up before Swan grabbed his shoulder gently and sat him back down.

"You'll just be a liability. I don't want you dying for nothing so Badger Swan and Fang sit tight here and don't worry, I'll do my best to get what's left of your teams back." Sonea said and they nodded solemnly.

"Yes Raven-sama." They chorused as well but with some more pride to their voices.

"Right, I'm going to scope things out, stay put and don't bring attention to yourselves." Sonea said standing up and stretching.

"You should take someone with you." Kakashi spoke and Sonea could swear she heard desperation in his voice as she turned to face him, his eyes were vunerable and she smiled reassuringly.

"Kakashi… When have you ever known me not come back from a simple recon mission? I'll be fine, sit tight." She said with a grin and winked at him, making the other ANBU laugh at the blush just visible over his mask as she left. She hopped up into a tree and took off into the sky to scout it out. The Oto nin had way to much confidence, having fires and camping outside as she found out earlier even if they were only partially on Hi no Kuni's boarders. She could see it was coming up to midnight as she glided along the wind high in the dark sky, covering her completely as she looked, eyes darting around as she scoped out positions and the camps.

Pushing some chakra into her eyes, she scanned each campsite for plans, advantages and the missing teammates or something to tell here they were there. She wasn't worried about them spotting her glowing red eyes, as it would be like trying to see a pinprick on a body so she wouldn't be spotted. Her wings caught a wind that pushed her higher and she swore out loud, how the hell did the ANBU land themselves slap bang in the middle of the army, no wonder they were being ambushed left right and centre, they were the centre!

She sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly as she looked to Oto's side, the last camp that was almost separate to the rest and there were the missing ANBU… And Kabuto. If she focused her hearing just enough, she could hear screaming coming from the campsite and scowled, they're working fast this time around. She took in minor details of the area that they would need before turning around and heading back to their make shift camp in the cave that looked constructed by Tenzo. At least she was just about dry now from the earlier water expedition as she walked into the cave and navigated it soundlessly. She saw Kakashi restrain himself from jumping and hugging her as she stepped into the area as the other ANBU looked up with relief clear on their faces.

"So, how'd it go?" Tenzo asked, standing and stretching as well.

"Well, they're cocky, I'll give them that. There are multiple camps spread out in a two-kilometre radius on both sides of the boarders. The lake and river runs down the centre of the radius and I estimate about five hundred soldiers out there." She said with a sigh as she sat down the same spot she was in earlier.

"What else?" Hawk asked, sitting across the fire from Sonea.

"Well I have good news and bad news, which do you want first?" She asked, dead sarcasm on her voice with stress evident clearly, making the other ANBU tense up.

"I'll take good news first." Tenzo said and the other ANBU hummed in agreement.

"Well I found Kabuto's camp as well as where I think the other ANBU are being held." Sonea said.

"And the bad?" Kakashi asked.

"This camp is slap bang in the middle of their radius and you're pretty much surrounded, I'm surprise you haven't been found yet." Sonea said and there was looks of pure terror and anger on some of their faces, going paler by the second.

"Well this mission just went from Mission: Impossible to Mission: In-Freaking-Sane." Badger mused, his face being the most pale of the group and Sonea sighed, leaning her head back and banging it on the wall slightly.

"This is going to be one long night." She sighed out.

A/N: the song used earlier on was:

(1): Make Me Wanna Die by The Pretty Reckless


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter twenty-nine

"This is the most ridiculous idea you've ever had." Kakashi whined out in a whisper.

"Shut up, it's working isn't it?" Sonea snapped back in a whisper. They were currently swimming down stream under the cover of midnight to begin the plan she had come up with. Granted, it wasn't very logical but with the minimal work force it would be such a random plan it would work, she knew it would. Tenzo and Hawk were on their way up stream for the other part of the plan while the injured waited in their base.

"Tenzo, what's your ETA?" Kakashi whispered over the radio while Sonea rolled her eyes.

"_A few metres from the last time you asked us. Stop asking us every five seconds senpai or you'll give us away."_ Tenzo whispered harshly back through the radio that even Sonea could hear it.

"Stop harassing them. They'll be fine Kakashi." Sonea ordered softly. Kakashi nodded and kept quiet and watched Sonea ahead of him. She barely made the water ripple as she swam at a comfortable pace, her hair waving along within the water, he would not want to meet her on a dark night like they were in just then. She looked at him through the corner of her eye and raised a hand to point downwards to dive and he nodded. She took a silent breath and dived, her body rolling over just on the surface of the water as Kakashi followed her under. He would have gasped if he wasn't underwater at the speed Sonea could swim and it was an interesting way to swim but effective as he copied the movement that looked like a mermaid's way of swimming, waving her body in one solid movement and never stopping. It also used less energy and muscles so he could stay under a second longer if he needed to.

They stopped as she looked up and Kakashi stopped next to her and looked up to see nin standing on the water with torches still, probably still looking for her from earlier as she recognised some of them. She gave him a signal to wait as she stalked up to the surface and got out silently using chakra to step out of it silently as she grabbed a nin in a headlock and his mouth as she pulled the nin down and broke his neck in one solid movement before he could comprehend what was happening. She dragged the body down to the floor of the lake and used his uniform to catch him on the rocks to keep him under the water before she returned to Kakashi's side.

He signalled her that he was running low on oxygen and she nodded, grabbed him, pulled his mask down and kissed him, giving him her oxygen before pulling his mask back up again and waited again like nothing happened. Sonea knew she would survive without oxygen but she couldn't for long before she passed out as the start of tunnel vision began around her vision. They continued on down stream and finally resurfaced again as Sonea pulled some of her upper body onto shore, trying not to gasp for air as Kakashi swam up next to her.

"I could have lasted you know." He whispered out angrily but Sonea could hear the worry in his voice.

"Yes… And you'd… be the one… gasping like this… now." She gasped out with a smile and Kakashi shook his head with worry and anger, looking out for enemies. Sonea took a few more deep breaths before she got it under control again and sunk back into the water. "This looks like the spot. Let's begin." Sonea said to Kakashi who nodded and double-checked over the radio and they were good to go.

"Perimeter's clear as far as I can see. Let's start your down right insane plan." Kakashi muttered as he stood on the water and Sonea crouched on it, pumping her chakra into it, eyes still darting around in case. She focused with her hands out as a huge ball of water rose from the lake, her eyebrows creased with concentration to hold it together. She switched her hands to palm facing up as she grimaced as she forced the water higher into the sky.

"Get on." Sonea looked at Kakashi through the strain as she created her wings and tail and Kakashi hooked himself onto her as she crouched slightly and jumped to give her more of a lift off as she began flapping and raising the water higher with concentration stiff in her body that Kakashi could feel underneath him. He swallowed as he looked down at the height they were at and watched her strain with control and concentration, one drop of water to drop at the wrong time and this plan was a bust. Suddenly her hands raised and she flicked her arms out and the ball broke up in separate little balls, directed as her body relaxed from the strain and the campfires everywhere began dying out.

"Now Kakashi, down over there." Sonea said, pointing to an area as Kakashi focused his chakra that he needed and Sonea flapped rhythmically and easily for better aim as Kamui began on the area as he focused it on the larger camp. It ended and he slumped on Sonea's back slightly and she looked at him and nodded.

"Begin Tenzo." Kakashi said over the radio. A second later there was a huge blast of fire from up stream and it moved quickly with fireball after fireball, showing how quickly they were moving through the camps. It was chaos as Sonea dropped them suddenly and they landed on the half waypoint to stop anymore troupes advancing. To say they were angry was an understatement as they faced down.

"This is where the speed comes, keep advancing no matter what and I'll meet you on the other side Kakashi. Good Luck." She said as he unsheathed his katana and Sonea formed her iron around her wings and tail as well as her sleeve blades. Kakashi looked at her and she could see fear in his eyes but all he could see in hers was excitement and blood lust as she smirked and just to piss the force in front of them off more, she placed her earphones in her ears and began blaring out a hard and fast rock song (Fever by Bullet for my Valentine, listen to it as you read), making them advance first as they charged straight in.

Their feet barely touched the ground as they ran and cut through their enemies, the desperation to advance set on their minds as the pushed forwards towards the camp Kabuto was seen in. Sonea sliced through a throat first then someone's chest, twisting to dodge a kunai aimed for her heart, her clan's blood was enjoying such a massacre too much as she was metres ahead before the first body hit the ground. She kept one eye on Kakashi a few steps behind who was doing well with her speed and skills and so she slowed down a little as she took out the mass of the force. If they ever got to Konoha, the precious village would have fallen to this amount of people but she pushed out the thought quickly as she advanced in a line with Kakashi.

Kakashi stayed focused as Sonea was still immortal but he wasn't so he had to focus on not dying at that moment. His hands were already slick with blood as he swung his katana, slicing across someone's groin, more blood to add to the layer he had on already as he stepped forwards into the next group of people to keep advancing like instructed. He stepped forwards again and again as he fell into a stride, a rhythm and repetitive movement he didn't even realise the enemy had caught onto until a steely flash of black blocked his path and defended him.

"Stay focused!" She hissed with anger and annoyance until he saw her dangerously glowing eyes were filled with worry and fear that she could have lost him if she didn't interfere that second. One burst of her violent chakra and they had a large circle around them as the enemy recovered and they began advancing again through the crowds, working in unison with the sharingan and demon eyes to read each other and the enemy. Kakashi stayed on offence while Sonea covered mostly defence as well as offence to her defence.

She added more lightning to her storm cutting senbons that usual with one bolt of electricity, they would be dead as another row advanced onto them and they began to loose speed. Lightning Blade was charged up as Sonea charged up Eye of the Storm and shoulder-to-shoulder, they began to cut them down quicker with Sonea's wings and tail covering them from offensive attacks. They cleared through quicker to have a mob of ninja on their tails, throwing kunai and shuriken at them as they headed through the forest towards Kabuto's campsite.

There were very few forces at the campsite as they cut through them and headed for Kabuto's tent to stop in their steps, the ninja behind them getting onto one knee and bowing down onto one knee.

"How wonderful to see you again Sonea-san, Kakashi-kun." Orochimaru slithered out with Kabuto at his side.

"I should have known you were here Orochimaru." Sonea hissed out, her eyes glowing brighter with anger as she crouched lower, ready to launch at the snake Sannin.

"Yes… But it's unfortunate I cannot stay. Kabuto, you can keep Kakashi's body if you succeed with this, you know what I want… I will see you two later." Orochimaru said as his image burnt away and Kabuto fixed his glasses.

"I can take him." Kakashi said with determination in his pose.

"Right… I'll take the army but watch out for close ranged attacks, he can cut you up without even cutting your skin with medical jutsu. Call if you need back up." Sonea said, turning around and facing the army behind them.

"Be careful." He said, unsheathing his blood soaked katana while Sonea nodded and they charged two different ways for the enemy.

"Time to take you all out in one go." Sonea sneered as she held her hands up in the ram seal. "Storm release; Dark Clouded Mist jutsu." Sonea whispered as a dark purple cloud began covering the land in the early morning sun, she took her sleeve blades and sliced across her abdomen as blood seeped out and iron pellets formed. Holding her arms out, she located all presences and sent the pebbles forth, confused screaming was heard with curses and orders flying all over the place until there was one and the mist dissipated. The young man looked scared and soaked in the blood of the bodies lying around him as he looked at Sonea with mercy in his eyes as multiple pebbles shot through him, a quick death for the last lucky or unlucky one.

All of the sun was visible just over the horizon as the familiar sound of a thousand birds was heard and died down pathetically… Kakashi was straining as she turned around to see him fighting Kabuto still, holding places that must have been struck on the inside with Kabuto's chakra scalpel.

"Don't think your fight is over." A familiar voice growled as she swung around just in time to hold her arms up and block a katana posed to strike her, the clanging of metal ringing out in the death ground. Sonea swung her arms out to push him away as they both skidded backwards, red demon eyes meeting bloody sharingan, glaring at each other.

"What a nice surprise Sasuke… I would have thought you would have left with Orochimaru for more training." Sonea spoke out coldly, glaring at him still as his genjutsu bounced off of her eyes, now she knows for sure who put that prisoner under a genjutsu, Sasuke had gotten good in the short years that had gone by.

"He told me to clean up here… As part of my training." He said coldly back at her… It was awkward after the terms they had parted but there was some sort of mutual understanding between the two that they regret fighting each other… Almost. Sasuke moved to strike again with his katana and Sonea blocked simultaneously with her blades and swung around to block and kick him squarely in the ribs as he rolled on the ground and recovered into a crouching position. He coughed up some blood that ran down his chin before he wiped it away with his white sleeve under a dark blue cloak. He was up again and charged Chidori before running at Sonea, striking with his katana and Chidori simultaneously as Sonea blocked the katana and dodged the lightning swinging for her heart each time.

She grabbed his wrist and kicked up against his jaw, sending him flying and crashing into Kabuto who jumped in to catch him, glaring at Sonea through his glasses.

"This isn't over." He said and then burning away with Sasuke like Orochimaru did earlier and Sonea breathed a sigh of relief then looked for Kakashi who was lying on the ground where he was fighting earlier and she rushed up to him. He had a few cuts and bruises on the outside and so she began healing all the things Kabuto severed on the inside, he missed by mere millimetres each time, showing how skilled Kakashi was even if he lost and became chakra exhausted, probably passing out on Kabuto who probably thought he was dead from one of his hits.

"Come on Kakashi, wake up." She said with slight annoyance as she fed him a food pill and he groggily opened his eyes with a groan, and raised a hand instantly to block out the sun, sitting higher in the sky.

"Did we win?" He asked as she helped him to sit up and gave him her water bottle.

"I guess you could say we won the war but not the battle… Kabuto got away as did Orochimaru but they've retreated with minimal forces left. Come on, let's go find the other ANBU and see how Tenzo and Hawk faired." She said, helping him up, almost loosing grip on his hand from all of the blood as they headed into the main tent and Sonea wrinkled her nose and grimaced at the antiseptic smell. Hanging there on an earth made wall in chains was Katsu, Owl, Leech and a very hurt Kit but no Mouse and Sonea sent a silent prayer out for her before smiling at the unconscious ANBU.

"Gee and I thought you guys were needing out help and not just 'hanging' around, taking a nap… We were at war you know." She shouted as they flinched out of their sleep, groaning and lulling their tired heads around. "Anyone call for a 'Search and Rescue Back Up' team?" She said with a reassuring smile as she broke the chains gently in her fist and helped them to sit and lean up against the wall for now until they were all down. She began healing the more life-threatening wound with what little chakra she had left and fed them food and soldier pills until they could get back to Konoha and be treated in the safety and security of the village, giving encouraging words to each one and a bright smile, which made Kakashi smile under his mask slightly.

"Raven-sama, Senpai!" A familiar voice called in the distance and they both turned to see Tenzo and a hobbling Hawk running up to them, a little bashed up but all right as they headed into the tent.

"You guys okay?" Sonea asked with concern, standing up to check them over with a greeting.

"Yes Raven-sama, a little worn down but alive. Your plan went on without a hitch." Hawk reported as the other ANBU began to stand up carefully and stretching to go home.

"Alright then. I'd say mission accomplish. Let's go back and grab Badger, Swan and Fang and let's go back home." Sonea said with a smile as they filed out and did a quick walk back to the base to report to their injured comrades and help them back home. Kakashi took up the front and Sonea stayed behind the group on the way home in case there was a surprise attack waiting somewhere.

Kakashi did a lot of thinking on the way back. He had seen the worst side of Sonea… The born killer side and it scared and repulsed him to the point he became repulsed at himself for loving such a monster but then it changed. He realised she was only doing it for comrades and the safety of the village. She was beautiful but not like those girls in the magazines he read. She was beautiful for that sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. She was beautiful for her ability to make people smile even when she was sad or when situations seemed impossible at times. No she wasn't beautiful for something as temporary as looks but she was beautiful down to her soul. He looked back as they were reaching the gates of Konoha to find her gone but her chakra signature was still washing around them meaning she was safe but it confused Kakashi as he looked ahead again.

There in the gates were people cheering as medics rushed up to take care of the injured… Cheering for them for avoiding another invasion that caused heart ache and pain… Something that would have failed if it wasn't for the now missing person from the group… Where'd she go? He would find her later because this was a reason for Tsunade to throw a celebration to drink as much sake as she likes because it was a celebration and Shizune would be powerless to do anything to stop it.

Speaking of the devil, Tsunade was there, leaning against the wall with a silly smirk on her face and clapping for them. He didn't feel like he deserved the attention and such as he pushed a medic away and carried on home… Sonea deserved the village's gratefulness not him and not the team because they would have all been dead by now if it wasn't for her. He would muse some more later once he gets his chakra back after a nice hot shower, clean clothes, good tasting food and his warm bed that probably still smelt like Sonea and he smiled at the thought. Some sort of feeling for her deepened that day, knowing her better than just her happy self or her angsty self or her sad self, cheeky or any other but now he knew the burden she carried, forever being an immortal tool for the village.

He realised that sometimes the strongest people are the ones who love beyond all faults, cry behind closed doors and fight battles that nobody knows about… Explaining the love of his life down to a T.

Sonea saw the crowd of people up ahead and knew this even would be recorded for future references and she sighed as she took a detour to her tower before the gates were even in proper view back to her tower for a long hot shower to wash the stress and blood away. She wasn't stupid, ANBU were held by a code and so was she. The event would be recorded and put away for the next Hokage to read and study over and another report would be made, dismissing her from ever being involved in the whole event at all. The information changed as little as possible according to the team's abilities and any involvement by her omitted. History was such a bitch some times.

She let the hot rays of the water run across her shoulders and the blood, dirt and foliage to run down the drain until it ran clear-ish before she reached for soap and washed herself twice, once for her body and once for her sins. Not a drop of water wasted as she shut it off and stepped out into the steamy bathroom, wringing her shin length black hair out. This had been one of the better missions she had come out of with ANBU recently, minor wounds that had healed already if not made her a little bloody and enough chakra left that left her feeling like she had a good work out that day and she was now sated and tired but her stomach came first as she headed to the fridge and made herself a sandwich before getting comfortable in bed and sleeping the rest of the day off.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter thirty

She woke up with a start to find out she had been woken up by fireworks of the celebrating village. She flopped back onto her bed with a sigh, feeling a lot better after coming back from the rescue mission and saving half the ANBU's top squads. It looked like the sun had just gone down outside and her club downstairs already pumping music louder than usual, filtering up into her apartment… Well she was hungry and she had been thrown straight back into missions as soon as she returned from her jinchuuriki mission and she needed a little fun right then after the tough missions that had been thrown her way in the last few weeks since returning so she pulled herself up out of bed and back into the shower one last time. One blast of ice cold water later, she was wide awake and looking through her wardrobe and realised Star and Fall were right, she had no normal going out clothes and sighed as she pulled her regular uniform out and got dressed.

The strobe lights flashed across the floor as she stepped out of the elevator, people, ninja and civilian alike, jumping and dancing to the deafening beat, controlled by Seth up on the DJ-ing stage that worked on chakra which Sonea swore she would learn to use one day and smiled to herself as she dodged the people dancing and grinding together and the odd couples who forgot they were in a very public place right then and shaking her head with an embarrassed smile, almost squeezing her way through the door, tripping slightly but recovering quickly and waving to the bouncer as she turned down the street. She was glad she grabbed her black cape as she left as a cold wind had her shrugging it closer around her shoulders and shaking her head to chase the chill away… It seems her breaking seal was making her more vunerable than she originally thought, heading down one of the quieter streets for five minutes to take in the sounds all around the village.

She smiled as it was all sounds of joy and celebration vibrating throughout the walls of the village and looked up to the full moon that night and frowned… She had saved the village once again, it would have been screams of terror if they failed and all the more reason she should have turned towards the brightly lit streets and cheerful people but she couldn't bring herself to be happy at that moment. She didn't need to be the hero tonight even if they all wanted love and honour… No one but her is willing to pay the asking price just to not have the rewards… A silent and killing shadow for the good of the village. She wouldn't be surprised if the ANBU she was with didn't have that part of their memories covered over by a genjutsu like it use to, it use to be a part of the ANBU code, to have your memories blocked if necessary but it caused to many problems a while ago. They would surface on their own if something jogged their memories and they just… broke… For the good of the village. She sighed and hugged her cloak closer, looking at the frosted roads already from the cold night air.

"I've been a horrible captain and team leader sensei." A faint and oh so familiar voice caught her attention to look up and see the gates of training ground 7 in front of her as she silently slipped through them to of coarse see Kakashi, back in his jonin uniform, talking to the memorial stone. "We lost Crane… I mean Shizuka of my ANBU team because I led them recklessly like I did with Team 7 and I had to be saved yet again. You've all saved me physically and then Sonea saved me mentally but we're barely holding together without you guys. I was selfish once again and pushed my way into Sonea's life and now all I'm doing is hurting her. She was trying to sever her bonds so when she does die it hurt her and everyone else less but all I did was push closer to her heart." He carried on as Sonea snuck closer with intrigue to the three stumps standing there. "I've never been so scared in my life… " This caught her attention as she stood there, wanting to reach out but she wanted… No needed to listen because she had never heard before, depth to the one she cared about because even to her he was guarded with his emotions since Minato's death and she fears she caused that herself.

"Father always use to tell me the legends of the stone hard killer of ANBU. The shadow of the Fire Shadow… The Black Raven." He began and Sonea sucked in a silent breath as her chest got painfully cold and heavy as her slow heartbeat was heard in her ears, he had seen the real side of her and now she probably disgusted him. " We use to always scrutinize people we thought could be Raven but we couldn't see how anyone could still be normal around people being so cold, killing without a second thought, following orders. Raven was always seen above the club's wall nicknaming it Raven's nest, in a way making the club famous… After the last mission, I now see why Raven is who she is." Kakashi said harshly and Sonea flinched and slid her back down along the stump to sit on the icy ground. Needs of the many out weight the needs of the few: She had to show her true killing self to Kakashi and risk loosing him to save the kidnapped ANBU, again she was willing to pay the asking price.

She pushed off of the stump to walk away before Kakashi started talking again, swallowing a slight sob because she couldn't hear him say anymore as it felt worse than any wound she had ever had.

"She does what she does to save the people she loves." Kakashi said, his voice showing how emotionally vunerable he was and Sonea turned around in a flash to stare at his back in disbelief. "She's stronger than anyone I've ever seen before, she can clearly distinguish between her personal life and her job and knows the difference, letting emotion in when it is only needed in such a situation… At first I was disgusted at what I saw in her empty eyes as she extracted information and killed a man but then I realised I was just like her once before and my line between personal and business began to blur and I risked my life for my comrades. I feel like I understand everything a little more now that I've seen what I've needed to… I know you're there." Kakashi said, straightening his posture, noting the end of his conversation with his dead loved ones.

"Sorry…" Sonea muttered and looked at the ground, still feeling emotionally sore to what she just heard to blush at being caught. Kakashi had only caught her presence when he said how empty her eyes were and inwardly face palmed and wondered how long she had been there but by the empty look on her face, she had been there long enough.

"You know… This is what eavesdropping does." He said, walking closer to her. "It creates misunderstandings." He said, standing calmly in front of her, watching her beaten down features in her face… His words must have hit her hard where it hurts.

"And I'm stupid for eavesdropping. I'm sorry." She muttered, still looking at the ground between them.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." He said quickly, cupping her cheek as he stepped closer to her. "Your actions on that mission just showed me how weak I really am and cleared my resolve. I've seen the future that's not looking to bright right now and I now know that I need to be stronger physically and emotionally to make a difference and save the ones I love, you and Naruto especially because you two are all I have left of my past and the main targets." He said, almost begging in his voice as her eyes stayed down and away from his. "Please look at me Sonea." He begged, grabbing her chin slightly and angling her head to try to get her to look at him. She finally looked at him but her eyes were not the loving maroon or the sparkly ruby of mischief… They were the hurt red and slight brown of old blood, guarded and hurt but there was still trust deep in their depths and he pecked her lips through his mask.

He almost growled when she dropped her gaze again then looked down to a hard pat on his chest over his heart to find her hand resting there. She pushed him back gently, never breaking contact before he was pushed up against one of the stumps and she leaned forwards onto him, eyes never straying upwards as she leaned on him and rested her head in the crook of his neck and he felt the same electric shock from touching her bite marks but this time it lacked the lust to it and it just gave a calming shock with a hint of pain to it. He stood still as her hand stayed on his heart and her head against the crook of his neck, he felt oddly calm as he brought his arms up carefully and slowly and wrapped her in a loose hug, closing his eye.

"Are you okay?" She finally asked him, not moving but Kakashi did open his eye again.

"… Yeah… Better than I have been for a long time." He said, smiling, putting his face into the crook of her neck and hugged her tighter as this time she returned it with a small but happy laugh as he picked her up and put her down again. They pulled back but not all the way as Sonea had her hands on his chest and Kakashi had his hands linked together on the small of her back. Kakashi breathed a deep sigh of relief when he saw her eyes were bright red again even if a little guarded with a smile and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Shall we go join the party?" She asked with a timid and crooked smile, a lovely blush running down her cheeks and across her nose that Kakashi found he loved about her.

"Sure on one condition." He said and her face dropped to one of confusion and Kakashi held in a chuckle.

"What condition?" She asked and this time Kakashi did laugh and pull down his mask, yanking her closer by her waist and sealing his lips over hers, smiling and chuckling into the kiss. She submitted into the kiss and wrapped her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck, being bent over backwards slightly by Kakashi and letting him hold her up. He let her up and broke the kiss as she breathed dazily, eyes still closed as he held her and she swayed slightly.

"Are you sure you're not going to faint this time?" Kakashi chuckled as her blush came back full force and she opened her eyes dazily and smiled, nuzzling slightly under his chin.

"Let's go before I change my mind." She breathed out airily and pulled his mask up, grabbing his hand in hers as she led him back to Konoha to enjoy the festival.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sonea jerked up and then clutched at her head. Why did she have to take that drinking challenge with the other jonin when Kakashi teased her about not wanting to take it. Normally the beast inside her filters it out but it seemed that it had a sense of humour now. After keeping her eyes squeezed shut after a while as the pain dispersed she opened her eyes and blinked wearily. She looked down at where she was sleeping and almost laughed. It was in Kakashi's apartment on his couch with a stuffed dog toy the size of her abdomen and laughed silently… What the hell had happened last night?

She vaguely remembered walking arm in arm with Kakashi when Guy, Genma, Raido, Kotetsu, Izumo, Yuugo, she even thinks Iruka was there and a few other came up to them and pretty much dragged them to a bar down town and started a drinking contest with the whole bar, Kakashi and Sonea versus the whole bar after their cocky remarks of drinking anyone under the table… Ooh Kakashi was going to feel so bad that morning. She bit into her wrist and grimaced at the alcohol still heavily in her blood just to wake herself up, she took her teeth out and healed herself with a gasp of distaste. She took a deep breath and stood up with the giant dog toy and headed into the bathroom to grab a glass of water and painkillers for Kakashi and heading into his room to laugh at him sprawled on his bed.

Still in full jonin uniform, legs spread haphazardly to the sides, his head was tilted to the side with one hand draped over his eyes, hitai-ate slipped down his neck, jonin jacket unzipped a little and twisted slightly along his body and his other hand resting on his stomach. She tip toed over to his bed and set the water and painkillers down on the table and the toy down next to him as she could see he was already starting to wake up as she silently walked back to his kitchen and looked in the fridge for the magical headache hangover cure. She found some eggs, soy sauce and protein powder as she put it into a mixer with a dash of milk and mixed it up with a few other things. She carried it back into his room and set it down with the painkillers and water, sitting on his bed carefully.

"Hey… Come on it's time to wake up and face the music." Sonea said softly with sympathy as he jerked awake and groaned, rolling onto his back properly as she held the straw with the water to his lips and popped the painkillers into his mouth before setting it down again. "You have to sit up and drink this, it'll help a lot." She coaxed, lifting him carefully to sit up without jolting him too much and passed him the cup as she forced him to down it in one go.

"The fuck was that?" He muttered, rolling his tongue in his mouth at the horrid taste, finally opening his eyes.

"Something to settle your stomach and get you going for the day… After the amount we drank last night, I'm surprised we made it back to your apartment and not just passed out on the street." Sonea said with a slight amused smile.

"Yeah well, you were the more sober out of us after that contest… Who won?" He asked, his attention span waning.

"I… Can't remember…" Sonea said with furrowed brows at his shuriken printed sheet.

"I think we did…" Kakashi mused, sipping his water.

"Why… What do you remember?" She asked curiously as she hugged the toy.

"Well… " Kakashi began with furrowed brows staring into his water. "Guy was the last one standing and hadn't puked after twenty drinks against you even after you had to go up against Genma and Anko with at least twenty five drinks each… Then on his last drink… He just became legless and ended up hitting his jaw on the table as he fell, knocking him out and you were declared the winner… Then I think Anko and you were grinding it up on the bar while money was placed into your belts?" Kakashi asked, finally figuring it all out, plucking money still sitting tucked in on her pants and she went wide eyed and blushed hard.

"Well that didn't turn out like I expected… I wonder how all the other jonins and chunins are feeling this morning?" Sonea asked with a grin of amusement and Kakashi couldn't help but laugh along.

"True, you did take on the heavy weight drinkers while I took the others… So Jyuubi didn't help you out?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I guess not but oh well." She said and they smiled at each other before a rough looking ANBU disturbed their peace and quiet.

"Tsunade-sama wishes to see you Sonea-san." A rough girl's voice said and Sonea smirked while Kakashi laughed, having pulled up his mask before she arrived.

"Feeling a bit rough this morning Yuugo?" Sonea questioned with amusement and the ANBU just cleared her voice that looked strangely like a cough. "All right, I'll be right there." She laughed and waved Yuugo away as she stood up and stretched.

"I feel sorry for you…" Kakashi teased, now hugging the giant stuffed dog loosely. Sonea turned around with confusion and he laughed. "You even drank Tsunade-sama under the table last night, Shizune wasn't very happy with you, dragging her out." He laughed and Sonea hit him over the head with her tail as she fixed her hair with a pout.

"Yeah, I better be alert for what's coming next so I'll see you later." She said with a wave as she shimmered out and into Tsunade's office only to have to avoid poison senbons from Shizune when Sabaku no Kankuro thought she was a threat and joined in.

"Hey! Stand down you two!" Tsunade ordered, cracking her desk in half before groaning and holding onto her head, leaning on the broken desk.

"Feeling a little rough I see." Sonea smirked before having to duck to avoid half the broken desk flying at her to slam through her door and wall.

"Damn bitch, only Jiraiya has ever beaten me in a drinking contest before. You cheated." She yelled, holding up an accusing finger while Shizune grinned sheepishly and was holding onto Tsunade to try to calm her down.

"Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that…" Sonea muttered boardly before having to transform quickly and jump into a diagonal spin to cut the second half of the desk up as she didn't have time to dodge it coming straight for her.

"You whore! I demand a rematch!" Tsunade was shouting now and Sonea sighed before letting some killing intent loose seriously, drowning everyone and Tsunade finally sat in her chair while Sonea sighed with annoyance and put away her iron coated wings and tail.

"Let's get down to business... Why'd you summon me Tsunade?" Sonea questioned seriously, crossing her arms.

"Suna… Or rather Gaara has asked for your presence. We're holding the next chunin exams." Kankuro explained with some annoyance, standing next to Sonea.

"Why me?" She asked.

"It would be the perfect opportunity to strike for his bijuu plus through Sage and Fall you know the new inner workings as they are similar to Konoha's now. They want an ambassador and representative from Konoha to help out and especially asked for by Kazekage Gaara." Tsunade explained and Sonea grinned.

"I knew he could do it!" She said, doing a little happy dance and Kankuro sighed.

"Are you serious… This clown?" Kankuro asked with annoyance and Sonea stopped before dropping into her killer tone, facing him.

"You're so lucky I have a hangover right now." She growled and he stood for the challenge.

"Enough you two." Tsunade commanded and then sighed.

"I decline the offer, there is someone more suited to this than I am right now and you know that Tsunade… Send Kazekage Gaara my regards." Sonea said with a bow, turned around before straightening and heading towards the hole in the wall.

"This is not something you can decline… This is an order Sonea Storm Shadow." Tsunade commanded as Kankuro tied her up in chakra strings and she growled.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter thirty-one

Sonea sat in angry meditation on the roof of the Hokage's Tower, growling every once in a while about having to go to Suna and help out but she luckily managed to rope Shikamaru into all of the official stuff. She doesn't give a damn if it was suppose to 'prepare her for when Naruto came home to deal with the pain and the stress on her seal' shit… She wanted five minutes in Konoha to relax and take in the sights because in one year she was suppose to die according to how her seal was breaking. Her meditation broke as she doubled over with a gasped sob and rested her head in her hands.

"I don't want to die yet…" She cried softly. "I'm so pathetic…" She laughed with a sob and a slightly insane smile forming under her hands. "You've been alive for hundreds of years and still want to live when you've been granted this gift… Finally a way to end this immortality SHIT and you want more, greedy bitch." She cussed and spat at herself, trembling with so many emotions, fear, anger, disgust, annoyance… So many negative emotions as she cussed at herself again and dug her fingertips into her head.

"Can't I have five fucking minutes of not being a tool!" She shouted at the stone heads on the mountain, only noticing Tsunade's head up there as well. "Fuck…" She whispered as a headache began dawning on her from the night before, dropping her head back into her hands. She couldn't breath anymore as her chest began to burn with gasps, noticing the beginning signs of hyperventilation as she tried to calm herself and her rapid heartbeat down so she didn't pass out, gasping in deep breaths. She knew there was a presence behind her that grabbed her shoulders gently and sat her up, resting against knees as she pulled in breaths easier and a little slower.

"Tsunade-sama asked me to check up on you, are you okay Sonea?" Tenzo's voice came from behind her and she nodded, just panting for breath a little.

"Could you… Could you take me home or Kakashi's place or something?" Sonea asked hesitantly, seeing the cat mask out of the corner of her eye as she turned her head to look at him with pleading red eyes.

"I'll take you to senpai's place since he knows how to comfort you…" Tenzo said, moving around to her side and picking her up in his arms, heading over the roofs with his cape blowing out behind him. She leaned her head against his armoured chest and stared deadly at the scenery passing by before it slowed down and they dropped onto a familiar windowsill and she felt herself being shifted from one pair of arms into another until she looked up into Kakashi's worried face and gave him a weak smile.

"Don't mind me… I'm just having a little break down here." She said up at him and he sighed before looking ahead of him.

"Thank you Tenzo, I'll take care of her." Kakashi said, turning as she heard his window being closed again and put her onto his bed before sliding up next to her as she tucked her head under his chin and nuzzled his still bare chest.

"What did Tsunade-sama want?" He asked, brushing his hand through her hair.

"Another contest." She muttered and he sighed.

"That wouldn't have upset you… What did she really want?" Kakashi asked and she sighed, resting her forehead against his chest and tracing the little scars with her eyes.

"I'm going on a long term assignment… In Suna, working with the Kazekage." She said, poking at his muscles and bones softly as she kept her mind distracted.

"That doesn't sound too bad… Who's the Kazekage?" Kakashi asked, wondering why it was a big issue with her.

"Sabaku no Gaara… I'll be there until just before Naruto gets back…" She said, feeling Kakashi's breath hitch against her head.

"But she knows what being around a jinchuuriki does to your seal? How can she be so reckless?" Kakashi asked and she sniffed, shaking her head.

"I just wanted to be in Konoha for a little while before all hell is let loose… She wouldn't take 'no' for an answer saying it would threaten the ties of Konoha with Suna well that can all go to hell for all I care… I want some time before I spend my last bit of time fighting for more than that puny little alliance with another country when the beast I carry will rip both of them up with just a huge sneeze at the wrong time." Sonea muttered as tears fell down her face. Kakashi smiled at the thought slightly as he just lay there with his head propped up on one hand and the other stroking through her black hair.

"I've fought for this village for so many years without asking anything in return and now I know why… It won't let me have some time off because I'm the unstoppable Shadow of Konoha, never resting or aging just like the village itself." She continued on, cuddling closer against Kakashi.

"Couldn't you just ask for leave for a while, I'm sure you have at least a week owing to you?" Kakashi asked and she shook her head.

"I used it for my mission… I've basically taken a whole Shinobi's lifetime of leave off in one go, they won't allow anymore until next year or something." Sonea said, moving so she could look up at him. "I guess shinobi do their jobs until the end like we're suppose to." She said giving him a smile and Kakashi felt his chest hurt as he pulled her against him and kissed her forehead as her form shook slightly in his arms, wet tears splashing against his chest.

"I think everyone is just a little high strung at the moment with everything that's happening." Kakashi said softly as she hiccupped with her tears drying up.

"Why do you say that?" She asked, muffled by being curled up in Kakashi's arms and he shrugged.

"I guess without even really noticing you before, everyone is now and they're worried. I know my generation especially can see it with Naruto's generation leading it, throwing you in the middle because you look like the age plus you ARE actually in the middle of it… I think the alcohol has effected my genius." Kakashi muttered, not being able to express what he wanted to say properly and he cleared his throat. He looked down at the shaking body in his arms and saw a glimmer of a smirk on Sonea's face and his chest lightened slightly.

"What I was trying to say is… You're an important pillar to this village and this world that people took for granted but now they're noticing you're crumbling and if that happens… The whole roof will come tumbling down with it. Even if people don't know your secret, they've still seen you and in the back of their subconscious, they can see you're important and crumbling and people are scared without actually knowing why." Kakashi explained, happy it was coming out better and Sonea took a shaky breath and sighed it out.

"I wanted time to spend with you." She said softly and Kakashi's breath hitched painfully as her fingers traced over his muscles and scars. "I know we would have had missions and such but at least I would have been here in Konoha, where after those few day missions we could see each other, just being near each other is enough for me… It's a three hour dead run in my wolf form, six to nine hours just running in my wolf form and two to three days run in this form, flying is four hours, depending on the winds." Sonea said tiredly as she prodded his stomach as she left red marks behind.

"What about your circle? Reverse summoning." Kakashi said as he played with her hair between his fingers.

"Tsunade's sending them with me because of my seal. We'll all be running back and forth, sending information, receiving information, they want the ties to be strong especially with Gaara being a jinchuuriki and if Akatsuki get him, Suna would be weakened substantially." Sonea explained and Kakashi hummed.

"But when you really think about it, it's not your problem." Kakashi said and she looked up, opening her mouth in objection before he placed a hand over her mouth and smiled slyly at her. "It's your job to protect the jinchuuriki, not the nations, she's mixing your duty around." Kakashi explained and he felt her mouth close and her eyes look down at the smiley face she had made by making his skin red.

"I don't even know what my duty is anymore." She said, rubbing her fingertips against the slight stubble he had on his face and he smiled at her before catching one of her fingertips between his teeth gently.

"I doshn ma''hr." He said with her finger between his teeth before he let it go with a smile, luckily Sonea could make out that he said 'It doesn't matter'. "You're just doing what is right by your standards and if you really wanted to, you could tell Konoha to go to hell and do your own thing. I know you Sonea." He said, running the back of his fingers against her cheek. " Your sense of duty has always been between what was right and wrong and honestly, what you have had to live through has been wrong… Everything you think you've done selfishly including our relationship you think is wrong and by becoming a senseless and emotionless shadow you think is right for you to spend eternity as. You're not stupid… Just selfless." Kakashi said, as red met red and grey that contrasted perfectly.

"We'll be arguing about this for hours so for once I'll let you take this win and I'll take your compliment because I'm too tired and hung over right now." Sonea said, kissing the hollow of his neck and Kakashi groaned while Sonea smirked, having found a sensitive spot on him. She traced her lips and nose along his neck, along his jaw and kissed him just behind his earlobe and he groaned just as loud. She squealed with delight as she was roughly pulled to lie on top of him as she was determined to find one more spot, lying with one of his legs between hers. Following her nose and lips along his stubbly chin she smirked at the fire smouldering in his sharingan eye, spinning at a nice speed and his other eye turning to liquid onyx. She followed down his neck and nipped at his Adam's apple and he groaned again, dropping his head back, waiting to be devoured.

"Stop…" He whispered out weakly with no intention behind it and she squirmed up on him slightly, making him growl.

"Like you said once before… We don't have to go all the way… Yet." She said, one hand already snaked down and cupped the bulge in his boxers, giving it a slight squeeze. He gasped brokenly as his hips raised clean off of the bed by his heels making Sonea gasp breathless as well by the position they were in.

"You're evil." Kakashi laughed with a pant as he returned to the bed and was thrusting gently against her hand that was still massaging him.

"I know… " She said in a slow and seductive voice that was just above a whisper. "But I need a shower first, come and join me?" She asked, sliding off of him as he moaned the entire time, clutching at his sheets. Sonea smirked as she purposefully swayed her hips as she disappeared into the bathroom and the spray of water was heard. Kakashi groaned, deciding he couldn't resist the tempting offer as he got up quickly and walked to the bathroom in a stiff and quick walk and all that was heard was a surprised squeak mixed in with laughter.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sonea slept quietly up in the tree while her circle buzzed down on the ground, talking with Kankuro and Tsunade, waiting for Shikamaru. He finally walked over and began talking to Tsunade.

"Ah, it's troublesome but it's an order from the Hokage and it would be more troublesome to go to jail so I guess I will have to comply. Who is coming with me?" He asked and Sonea took this chance to sneak up behind him.

"Hi Shikamaru!" Sonea said in a loud and annoying voice but he didn't flinch and Sonea moved next to him in annoyance. "You damn Naras and not letting someone play a prank on you because you notice everything." Sonea muttered. Shikamaru cleaned out his ear with his pinky to get his hearing back and laughed a little.

"So loud-mouth next to me is coming… Ow!" He said, Sonea punched him in the arm for calling her a loudmouth and gave a small pout.

"Well at least I'm not as loud as Naruto." She mumbled again and crossed her arms. Tsunade got a soft and longing look in her eyes with a small smile.

"When is that troublesome blonde coming back anyway?" Shikamaru asked, obviously missing his friend.

"He should be coming back soon… Hopefully, if Jiraiya doesn't get sidetracked." Sonea said with slight distaste at the mention of Jiraiya. Tsunade laughed and Shikamaru just snorted.

"You have your mission you two, you can go when you want." Tsunade said with a wave and Shikamaru sighed.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just send two people and use messenger birds than people running back and forth the whole time?" Shikamaru asked Tsunade who smiled.

"That's also the reason why I chose Sonea and the people standing here before you." Tsunade said with an evil grin and Sonea was trying to hold one down.

"What difference will her presence make Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru asked with a bit of confusion but also intrigue. Tsunade gave Sonea a silent command and she stepped back to transform. Shikamaru must have seen something in Tsunade's eyes looking behind him and he turned around cautiously. His eyes widened at the unnaturally large wolf and his jaw dropped. Sonea gave him a wolfish grin and walked right up to him.

"It's a solid transformation so with you ridding on my back the trip will only take one day." Sonea explained but Shikamaru was still shocked and picked up his hand and patted it against her chest.

"Whoa… It is real." He said with a slight smile and wonderment as he ruffed her head and she chuckled and transformed back to face Tsunade again.

"Good luck you two." Tsunade said as she stepped back and Sonea's circle came to attention and Sonea clicked her fingers as they all transformed into their wolf forms and Sonea got on Storm.

"Choose one and hold on tight. You ready to for the thrilling experience of your life?" Sonea, asked Shikamaru and Kankuro at the gate at sunrise. Shikamaru took a heavy sigh and climbed on Bolt, the silver wolf and Kankuro got on Sage, already knowing the little secret.

"Fine… Just remember to go smoothly as possible as I think I might fall off a few times." Shikamaru said with his usual board tone. Sonea grunted and began the trek. They travelled in a standard v formation with Storm and Sage being up front with Kankuro showing the easiest and quickest way. Running through the forest was the harder part of the trek but the sand was quick and easy with chakra covered paws as the V formation spread out a little so they didn't kick sand into each other's eyes. They avoided any sand storms but it took longer than they thought and arrived in Suna as the sun was going down.

They were greeted by Temari who showed them where they would be staying for the time being. Sonea moved to use the shower first while Shikamaru settled in the small two bed roomed apartment in the Kazekage tower for ambassadors while Sonea's circle booked into a hotel. She placed a clean uniform back on and was busy looking through her bags and Shikamaru studied her. He traced the pentagram tattoo on her back and the seal with chains around it as something clicked in his head.

"You're a jinchuuriki like Naruto." He said, surprisingly calm. Sonea tensed and froze.

"Aw shit, what gave that away?" She asked, still frozen with her back to him.

"Your seal, it looks similar to the ones our clan uses to restrain shadows, surprisingly. My father made me study them but it looks like it's missing some pieces." He said, now standing behind her and examining it. Sonea stood up straight slowly with a sigh and turned to face him seriously. He stepped back slightly and took in her serious gaze carefully. He knew he had just stumbled into something he shouldn't have and moved back to his seat.

"What I am is a higher classed secret than Naruto's. But I will tell you this much… Yes I am a jinchuuriki however my seal is breaking, that is why pieces are missing." Sonea stated seriously and Shikamaru nodded seriously. "Tell me everything you have observed and discovered." Sonea ordered with a slight threat and Shikamaru gulped, women were so scary and troublesome.

"Your seal is a seal of restraining shadows however the chains gave it away that it is holding a bijuu of some sorts. That is all I know… Perhaps my clan can take a look at it and repair it for you." He suggested carefully.

"That's not possible, they wouldn't be able to handle it." Sonea said, sitting down, across from him to study him.

"You seem to be handling it quite well." He noted and Sonea nodded.

"I am but it's not by my own power. Its chakra is separated from it and if someone was to touch the seal, it would break out. I am actually using senjutsu, Natural chakra is what is keeping it caged away and is the reason why I have black hair and red eyes, it is a specialty of my clan. I normally have blue eyes and blonde hair but using natural chakra turns me into something called 'demon mode'… I've said to much already." Sonea mumbled as she rested her face in her hands.

"You might as well tell me the whole story." Shikamaru said and Sonea nodded, removing her hands from her face to talk. Shikamaru listened intently, soaking up every piece of information like a sponge because this has just thrown him off slightly, making protecting the world and Naruto a lot harder as he found out. Sonea took a deep breath and sat back in her chair after explaining everything and watched the wheels turning in Shikamaru's head.

"I never would have thought something like this was actually real. We had always been told it was all myth and such but for the Rikudo Sennin having been real as well as such a feared beast such as the Jyuubi… Ah this is so troublesome." Shikamaru said, rubbing the back of his head tiredly.

"I'm sorry you got roped into this but I'm sure I don't have to tell you to keep this quiet as an SSS-class secret." Sonea said and Shikamaru regarded her and nodded with a sigh.

"I understand… Who else knows? And does Akatsuki know?" Shikamaru asked seriously as he sat forwards on the couch with his hands linked together.

"As far as I'm aware, Akatsuki doesn't know and it needs to stay that way. Tsunade knows of coarse as well as Shizune, Gaara, Jiraiya, Naruto and Kakashi." Sonea explained and Shikamaru perked up.

"Kaka-sensei knows?" Shikamaru asked and Sonea couldn't hold down her blush as she looked away and Shikamaru groaned.

"Really? You and Kaka-sensei? It's like the universe is playing a cruel joke on you." Shikamaru said and Sonea laughed sheepishly while she scratched her cheek.

"Seems like you're the only one who can see the shitty position I'm in. Let's get some sleep, I'm sure there is a lot we need to do tomorrow." Sonea sighed as she stood up and stretched as did Shikamaru.

"Though…" Shikamaru said, catching Sonea's attention. "It's nice to see Kaka-sensei acting normal, especially after everything I've heard from Asuma-sensei." Shikamaru said with a slight smile as he stepped into his room and closed the door, leaving Sonea dumbfounded behind him.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter thirty-two

Shikamaru covered his face with one hand as dust kicked up everywhere, peaking through his fingers. They had only been there for a week and already Sonea had taken charge… Women were just troublesome.

"How's the construction going?" Temari asked carefully as she stood next to Shikamaru who still stood where he was.

"Sonea said she'd be finished by the end of the day… I can't believe this." Shikamaru drawled as a huge dust cloud blew over them and a figure walked towards them, grinning and full of sand, looking like one of Gaara's sand clones.

"We're nearly done, we just have to put seals and all those protection jutsus up and then you can move everything in and get classes going within the next few weeks." Sonea said with a grin as the dust cloud disappeared and Sonea shook like a dog as sand dropped from her.

"Mind showing us around?" Temari asked as she stepped up next to Sonea, looking at their new and permanent academy. It was put into one of the hard dunes like mountains that the village was up against but made solid by Gaara's chakra as well as anyone else who was willing to add their chakra to make it strong and safe as a safe hold as well.

"Of coarse!" Sonea said excitedly as Temari walked next to her and Sonea rambled on about the design and such that Shikamaru couldn't care about right then as he looked around. Lines were clean and corners of the roof and floor were perfect and straight. The stairs were all the same height and a good size where railings would still have to be put in as they walked on the first floor and down the hall with classrooms on their right with windows looking out to where they were just standing on the left.

"So how did you get everything so clean and cut perfectly?" Shikamaru interrupted Temari and Sonea talking and Sonea just grinned.

"I'll show you, there's one more room I left for a demonstration." Sonea said as they got to the end of a hall where one room was marked out with a giant x on the wall where the door would go. Just to do the levels and the corridors for stone workers and builders took months on end yet Sonea was cutting through the rock like butter and Shikamaru snorted, now he knew why. Sonea placed her hands on the wall as it started to fall away like sand creating a doorframe as handfuls of sand kept falling away, creating a room that was slowly forming as Temari and Shikamaru watched on in awe as she walked further into the room, cutting through the stone and sand as it fell away to reveal window spaces. Once the room was done, it was done.

Clean-cut edges, perfectly straight floor… Just perfect shapes everywhere. Of coarse it was full of sand still and Sonea was slumping through one of the windows and panting harshly as her chakra flickered and wavered.

"Sonea, are you alright?" Temari asked as she rushed over and helped her to stand up straight, red eyes hooded from exhaustion.

"I'm fine… Would you… like to do the… honours?" Sonea panted out at Temari as she looked at the sand. Temari grinned and passed Sonea none to gently to Shikamaru who fumbled with her before he got a hold on her with her arm across his shoulders and his one arm around her back. Temari whipped out her fan with a grin as she opened it and lifted it up.

"Wind release: Sickling winds jutsu." Temari said as a huge gust of wind picked up all of the sand and directed it out of the windows, leaving a clean classroom, ready for furniture and windows and such.

"Perfect, I was expecting you a lot later but since it's done now, it just needs Gaara's approval and then everything can get moved into it. I think I'll go back to my room to rest… I used a little too much chakra today." Sonea said, hanging off of Shikamaru who smiled with Temari.

"Your help was greatly appreciated since like you said, wood didn't last two days through rough sand storms we had. Shikamaru can take you back quickly…" Temari said with slight worry and Sonea waved it off.

"Don't worry about it." Sonea said with a lazy grin.

"I've got her." Storm's voice floated into the room as he stepped up to Shikamaru and took her up into his arms. "The academy is at a lunch break anyway and ANBU are on a 'field trip'… Literally." Storm laughed evilly as he walked out.

"See you two later." Sonea sang over Storm's shoulder, waving at them and Temari laughed while Shikamaru sighed.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed.

"I forgot to tell her that using too much chakra in this heat could make her feel drunk… She's not going to feel too good in the morning." Temari laughed with Shikamaru as they attended to some other business.

XXXXXXXXXX

Sonea grinned to herself… Finally after three weeks of the scorching heat, she was going back to Konoha for a few days while a request is being completed for the chunin exams for Shikamaru. Plus she'd be going back to Suna and then back to Konoha with most of her circle again since Naruto was returning soon and she would swear she could sense him near by but that was just the buzz of the excitement happening.

She leaped in her wolf form into the coolness of the forest she was now in, indicating she was now in the Land of Rivers, so close to home, she could smell it… Again, the excitement was getting to her. The sun didn't help now that her wolf form was now black fur with purple high lights in it and she was so hot, she splashed through a few rivers on her way. The gates of home showing up ahead as she shot by the guards who were too busy sleeping to see her go past but she knew ANBU had seen her so it was okay as she made a bee line for Tsunade's office over the roofs still in her wolf form as some ninja stopped and stared for a while. She transformed back as she jumped through Tsunade's window, whipped out a piece of paper and put it down in front of the stunned Tsunade.

"Geez brat, you almost gave me a heart attack! Trying to finish me off early?" She growled out and Sonea laughed excitedly.

"Nope, wouldn't want to be in the position of acting Hokage again… Kakashi better still be in the village." Sonea said and Tsunade smirked as she read the letter over slowly.

"He should be around somewhere, he's taking easy missions until Naruto gets back which should be within the week. Come back tomorrow for my reply. Dismissed." Tsunade said with a cheeky smile towards Sonea as she saluted her and jumped back out of the window. "And next time use the door!" Tsunade shouted and Sonea just laughed, following the feral and dangerous chakra sleeping just out of her reach. He was calm and laid back and oh my god how good it felt to feel his presence again! Time to hunt for her prey…

XXXXXXXXXX

Kakashi shivered as he walked down the streets of Konoha, his nose stuck in his little orange book like usual but… Something was watching him. He took a deep breath and carried on his way, looking like he was still reading but wasn't as his eye darted around to find the source of the gaze, making him feel like he was prey to a wild animal.

He couldn't tell if it was friendly or an enemy but he took it out of the village and to the memorial stone where he put his book away in his pouch before being tackled by some one. He threw that person off and twisted to stand up in a crouch, facing the person who tackled him with a kunai and his hitai-ate pulled up already, revealing his sharingan.

He blinked as his heart sped up painfully and he stopped breathing because Sonea was crouching down in front of him on the other side of the field with a cheeky smirk and red cheeky cherry red eyes before the non-existent air was knocked out of him again and he had desperate lips on his and he kissed back feverently.

"I missed you." Sonea said as she broke the kiss and Kakashi nibbled on her jaw.

"I can see that." Kakashi said sarcastically against her cheek with a smile. "Did you enjoy your game of hunter?" He asked as he just ran his lips contently against the skin on her neck with his eyes closed.

"I did… It's been a long time since I stalked someone with such intent that I gave off… Want to play it some more?" She asked, hopping off of him and disappearing into the bushes as Kakashi dropped his head back to the floor with an annoyed growl but he couldn't stop smiling.

"Fine, but this time it's my turn." Kakashi said as he got up and headed out after Sonea, pulling his mask back up along the way. They played for the rest of the day until the sun fell and the moon came up because this would be the last time for a while that they could just have fun with what was coming within the next week once Naruto returns and Akatsuki make their move.

A/N: OMG this is the last chapter of the filler section! Hooray! I'm so sad at how close to the end my story is but all good things come to an end unfortunately I'll post the link to the final part of the story when I start posting it as a new chapter to this story but for now it's going under complete, just a few more tweaks to the final part and it shall be perfect, the way I want it. See you soon and don't forget to drop a review if you would so kindly do. LOVE YOU ALL!


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: Hey Guys the final installation of Jyuubi Jinchuuriki's Immortality is up :  s/10213121/1/Jyuubi-Jinchuuriki-s-Immortality-Part-Three-A-New-World-Ahead Hope you enjoy it leave me reviews


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